Surrey residents frustrated by continuing gun violence
Another day, another shooting.
That’s the sentiment expressed by weary Surrey residents after news of yet another incident that wounded one man inside a home in Clayton Heights, not far from where nurse and hockey coach Paul Bennett was shot Saturday.
“People are losing faith. That’s the frustration. This is what the community feels — they’re fed up, and they’re saying, 'Not another shooting,' " said Doug Elford, a longtime Surrey resident who plans to run for council with a new civic party called Surrey Community Alliance.
In this latest incident, neighbours reported hearing shots fired at around 11:25 p.m. at a home in the 7700block 184th Street. Police found a man with gunshot wounds and an injured woman who was assaulted. The incident was targeted, police said. The victims and suspect, who fled the scene before cops arrived, know each other. The victims are also known to police.
The incident comes on the heels of the Bennett shooting in the driveway of his home in the 18200-block 67 A Avenue. Police say the shooting was “not random.”
Surveillance video of Bennett’s shooting surfaced Tuesday, showing chilling details surrounding his killing. In the video obtained by CTV, a silver car pulls up in front of a house that is said to be Bennett’s. A person in black gets out of the passenger side of the car, then walks off camera. Eight shots are heard before the person runs back on camera and gets into the waiting car, which then speeds away.
Police have said that Bennett was sitting in his truck in his driveway when he was shot.
Also on Tuesday, Integrated Homicide Investigation Team spokesman Cpl. David Lee said there were no updates in the case. When asked to address speculation among neighbours and on social media that Bennett’s death could be a case of mistaken identity, Lee said: “We are trying to get all the facts together before addressing these (comments) as we are committed to providing only confirmed/ credible information.”
Surrey’s recent wave of shootings, including the shootings of teenage boys Jesse Singh Bhangal, 17, and Jason Singh Jhutty, 16, has mobilized the community, which turned out in droves to a recent rally to take a stand against the violence.
“It’s not about race or identity,” said rally organizer Gurpreet Singh Sahota following the Bennett shooting. “No one expected this to happen in this kind of neighbourhood. Before they say if you live in Cloverdale or South Surrey you’re safe; only Newton is a problem. But not anymore.”
Coun. Tom Gill, the mayoral candidate for Surrey First, said serious crimes involving guns have been on the rise, and more needs to be done to tighten gun access and availability.
“It’s becoming very apparent and evident that many of the tragedies that happened lately have involved guns,” he said.
Gill said Surrey has increased the number of police officers by 120 since 2016. He supports a proportional increase of officers to accommodate new growth in Surrey, which would work out to about a dozen new officers a year, but also wants to use quantitative tools and performance indicators to better allocate resources within the detachment.
Elford said Surrey needs a stronger police presence on the street, and needs to take a harder stance against criminals and make them feel unwelcome.
"Just the fact (in the Bennett shooting) that somebody feels comfortable enough to do this in the middle of the day in a quiet community — they don’t seem to have a fear of reprisal, and that’s concerning to the community,” he said.