Gunned-down gangster was soon to face trial
Shot to death in an Abbotsford home Friday, Jaskarn Lally had been charged in Dawson Creek shooting
A 20-year-old man gunned down at an Abbotsford home on Friday afternoon was weeks away from facing trial in connection with a gangland shooting at a Dawson Creek gravel pit.
Abbotsford Police discovered the body of Jaskarn Lally at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, two hours after investigators believe the young man was shot several times at a home in the 3500-block of Chase Street.
Police said they are looking for a dark-coloured Ford F-150 pickup seen speeding away.
A trail of court records tell the story of the young gang associate who had several brushes with the law before he was killed.
On April 24, Lally was expected in a Dawson Creek courtroom to face six weapons offences related to a shooting at a quarry.
The charges were laid after an investigation into the abduction of a 26-year-old man in Dawson Creek on Feb. 21, 2015.
According to a civil forfeiture claim, the man was knocked unconscious and taken to a gravel pit near Radar Lake, where he was bound to a chair and shot several times in the legs.
He was treated in hospital for two broken femurs and numerous bullet wounds after dragging himself to a road. A traffic stop led to the arrest of Lally and several other men, who were charged with weapons offences.
Less than two weeks later, fresh out of prison after being released on bail, Lally was arrested again by Dawson Creek police, this time after trying to break into a “stash” house.
The house had earlier been raided by police investigating the gravel pit shooting, according to media reports.
Officers found firearms, crystal meth, fentanyl, crack cocaine and cash.
Court records show Lally pleaded guilty to mischief in relation to the break-in late last year.
Before the trouble in Dawson Creek, Lally’s name had already turned up in court documents connected to the Townline Hill conflict in Abbotsford, a turf war which began as a dispute between two groups of young people, but has since escalated into a violent feud with links to gangs outside the city.
The first murder associated with the Townline conflict in October 2014 led to a civil forfeiture claim that named Lally as an associate of shooting victim Harwin Baringh. The lawsuit claimed Lally was in a car involved in shootout with two other cars on an Abbotsford street just after suppertime. The gunfight ended with Baringh’s death.
Vancouver Punjabi newspaper editor and radio host Gurpreet Singh Sahota said the deaths of several young men involved in the conflict have many in the South Asian community concerned and seeking answers.
“It’s a great tragedy. Every few weeks we hear about another shooting,” he said Saturday.
“We don’t know how to stop it. Everyone is discussing what’s wrong, but it’s hard to find a solution.”
Sahota said community forums have discussed the role of parenting, social pressures and the lure of easy money in an attempt to find answers, but the deaths of the young men have continued.
Homicide team spokesperson Cpl. Meghan Foster would not comment on whether the shooting could be linked to a gang war or about a possible motive behind the shooting, but she confirmed Lally was known to police, associated with local gangs, and his shooting appeared to be targeted.
“This outcome is another example of the risks associated with gang life, and those involved are not protected from the dangers of it,” she said.