North Vancouver homicide a ‘targeted hit’
A peaceful, sun-drenched street in North Vancouver District was the scene Tuesday of Metro Vancouver’s second gangland slaying in three days.
“I’m upset. What’s going on? Nothing like this ever happens here. There was a lot of noise last night,” said a man, who declined to give his name, after police blocked off a section of Wellington Drive east of Sykes Road. North Van RCMP said the body of a man was found and police were in the process of notifying family members.
“It was a targeted hit,” RCMP Cpl. Richard De Jong said in a news release.
A parked car was haphazardly covered with a blue tarp behind lines of yellow police tape.
The car was later towed away after investigators took a closer look.
It wasn’t immediately known how the man was killed or whether he died in an automobile or at a nearby residence.
The neighbourhood is perched high on a hill in Lynn Valley and off by itself, several blocks distant from the business district.
Several hours after the shooting, neighbours seemed remarkably calm about the carnage a few dozen metres from their front doors.
“Am I upset? No. This is Vancouver,” a bicyclist named Jim said as he emerged from behind police tape for his afternoon ride. “I was up until 2 a.m. and didn’t hear a thing.”
He said it was a safe neighbourhood.
“You could leave your keys in your car or your house unlocked.”
Another woman standing on her driveway seemed accustomed to the idea of another day, another gangland shooting in metro.
“You hear all these drug wars going on. There was a murder in Vancouver on Sunday when we were visiting our son,” said the woman, who has lived in the area for 46 years.
“How do I feel? It’s happening all over the world. It’s a tragedy. They’re chasing the almighty dollar.”
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team is investigating.
It was the second gangland murder in three days in the region.
Vancouver police identified 30-year-old Duy Ly Nguyen of Ontario as the victim Sunday.
He was shot while sitting in the passenger seat of a white Toyota Camry at a strip mall at Oak Street and West King Edward Avenue.