Late night Surrey shooting sends man to hospital, draws large police presence

VANCOUVER -- Mounties are investigating a late night shooting in Surrey’s Guildford area that sent one man to hospital Monday night.At about 11 p.m., several police cruisers were seen at 144th Street and 104th Avenue and police said they received reports of shots fired near Hawthorne Park. While heading to the park, police got a report that a man was suffering from a gunshot wound at a nearby bus stop. The 25-year-old was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Police have not said if anyone was taken into custody, but they did say officers would still be in the area Tuesday to continue investigating. Mounties also said they’re not sure where the shooting took place, adding that “the victim in this incident has not been forthcoming with information to police.” The city has been rocked by several recent shootings, and multiple people were arrested on Saturday after an incident left a house in Whalley riddled with bullet holes. That incident came just days after a man was shot and killed in a residential area less than four kilometres away from Monday night’s reported shooting. One resident advocating for the city to keep the RCMP, rather than switching to a local police force, said Surrey is “getting into a culture of shootings.” “People believe that they need to shoot to solve problems,” Ivan Scott said. However, Surrey city council passed its controversial 2020 budget Monday night, which includes $130 million earmarked for a transition away from the RCMP and to a municipal police force. Police have not made any connections to the three recent incidents. Anyone with information on Monday night’s incident is asked to contact Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502.