Shooting victim known to police
Police working to determine if Abbotsford homicide is tied to ongoing drug gang wars
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has identified the victim of a Friday night shooting in Abbotsford as 24-year-old Lovepreet “Jason” Dhaliwal and are trying to figure out if he had any current gang links.
People called 911 about 6:30 p.m. Friday reporting shots fired in the 3500-block of Promontory Court near Ridgeview Drive.
Cpl. Frank Jang, who speaks for IHIT, told a news conference on Saturday that Dhaliwal was found with a gunshot wound in what police believe was a targeted attack.
He was pronounced dead at the scene. He would not say if Dhaliwal was shot at his home, but said he lived in the area.
He said his family has indicated to police that “Mr. Dhaliwal was working hard to better his life and leave that criminal past behind.”
But Dhaliwal was “known” to police and IHIT has investigators digging hard into the details of Dhaliwal’s recent life, he said.
The shooting came at the end of a violent week in Metro Vancouver, including the discovery of the body of a missing Surrey man in the trunk of a car in Vancouver, and the death of 15-year-old Alfred Wong, an uninvolved bystander caught in the crossfire of a gang shootout in Vancouver that also killed a drug dealer, 23-year-old Kevin Whiteside.
Jang said IHIT cannot say yet if the Dhaliwal shooting is tied to those killings and the continuing drug gang war in Metro Vancouver. However, he urged people to “be vigilant and be mindful of their surroundings” when out and about.
“One of the main priorities for the investigators will be to determine the motive behind Mr. Dhaliwal’s murder,” Jang said. He said they are looking into Dhaliwal’s “current affiliations, if any.”
Jang said a black Acura TL luxury car was seen leaving the scene right after the Dhaliwal shooting. A vehicle matching that description was later found burnt out in the 22300 block of 61st Avenue in Langley. Forensic evidence experts are examining the vehicle and IHIT wants to to speak with anyone that has information about the vehicle.
“There are people who knew Mr. Dhaliwal that may have information that could help us solve his murder. I urge these individuals to come forward and speak with IHIT,” said Jang.
Dhaliwal was charged in 2012 with being unlawfully in a house and with disguising his face with intent. But the charges were dropped after new information became available.
Dhaliwal was murdered near where an uninvolved bystander, 74-year-old Ping Shun Au, died after getting caught in a gangland shooting in September 2015. He lived next door to a house on Promontory that was targeted. No one has been charged in Au’s murder.
Police put up a video camera in the area immediately after that shooting, but Jang said he did not know if it was still there or working. He said police were knocking on doors in the area on Saturday asking if anyone had security cameras that might have caught something of interest Friday evening.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the IHIT tip line at 1-877-551-4448 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.