‘Quiet neighbourhood’ rocked by gunshots outside home

Paul Walia was in bed when he heard gunshots on the street outside his home in Surrey’s Fleetwood area.

It was shortly before 11 p.m. on Tuesday and immediately after the four shots, he heard vehicles speeding away. By the time he made it to his front window, the street was empty.

A few minutes later, police arrived. “It’s a very quiet neighbourhood. We’ve never seen anything like that before,” Walia said.

According to Surrey RCMP, several people living in the area of 84B Avenue and 141A Street called 911 after hearing the gunshots. Responding officers found shell casings and broken glass, leading investigators to believe that there had been gunplay between occupants of two vehicles.

Police are still canvassing the area for witnesses and surveillance video.

No one has called police to report any injuries related to a shooting, and no one has checked into hospital with gunshot wounds.

Last year, Surrey experienced an unusually high number of shootings and suspected shootings in connection with a drugs dispute.

So far this year, there have been two widely reported shooting incidents in Surrey. A man doing his own “proactive patrol” in the area of 152nd Street and 48th Avenue on Jan. 4 confronted several people in a suspicious parked vehicle and was shot at by someone in the white sedan.

The man pursued the vehicle, which eventually crashed into a hydro pole on River Road in Delta. Three people were arrested.

On Jan. 26, police arrested three people and seized a vehicle a few hours after a house was hit by bullets at in the 13600-block 111th Avenue in Bolivar Heights. No one was injured.

jensaltman@postmedia.com

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