Canadian police kill man shooting at homeless near Vancouver

A gunman in a Vancouver, Canada, suburb shot four people, two fatally, during an overnight rampage, striking a casino, a center for people transitioning out of homelessness, a bus stop and a highway before he was shot dead by police, authorities said Monday.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Langley, British Columbia, initially said the gunman appeared to be targeting homeless people, but they later walked that back.

As morning dawned, personal possessions could be seen scattered on the street from an overturned bicycle, and a shopping cart stuffed with belongings stood abandoned, The Associated Press noted.

The identity of the suspect and the two victims were known, but police were not releasing the information pending next-of-kin notification, they said at a press conference.

“We are actively investigating a series of shootings that has left two dead, one in critical condition and another with serious injuries,” Chief Superintendent Ghalib Bhayani of the regional Royal Canadian Mountain Police (RCMP) said in a statement of the six-hour rampage. “At this time we don’t know the motive behind this deadly incident, nor if there was any relationship between the deceased suspect and the victims.”

The shootings were reported “in the early hours of the morning” in the heart of downtown Langley and in the neighboring Township of Langley, about 25 miles east of Vancouver, the RCMP said.

At 6:20 a.m., police alerted the public via cell phone about several shootings “involving transient victims.” Before that, police did not know the shootings were connected.

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One woman was hospitalized in critical condition, with more shots possibly “fired into a number of closed or unoccupied business during the incident,” the RCMP said.

They cornered the suspect near a mall. Cops fired at the man and hit him. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police were asking the public’s help in the investigation.

It’s illegal to possess an unregistered handgun or rapid-fire type weapon in Canada, and anyone buying a weapon must undergo training and a personal risk assessment, obtain two references, ensure their spouse is notified, and be subject to a background checked for any criminal history.

The shootings left the 29,000-population Langley, about 30 miles southeast of Vancouver, in shock.

“I’m here with a very heavy heart,” Mayor Val van den Broek said, according to CTV News. “Everybody in our community should know that this was an isolated incident as far as we know and we are doing everything we can to help people. I want to say to the community: We’re strong, we’ll get through this. We’ve been through lots before.”

With News Wire Services