DEATH IN THE STREETS
A member of the Brothers Keepers is dead after a targeted shooting in Coal Harbour on Saturday night
A targeted shooting on a popular Coal Harbour street left a Brothers Keepers gangster dead Saturday night, as his devastated brother looked on.
Harb Dhaliwal was shot at close range just after 8:30 p.m., right beside vehicles parked on the north side of the 1500-block of Coal Harbour Quay.
His elder brother Barinder “Shrek” Dhaliwal screamed out his name and had to be held back by Vancouver Police officers after the shooting.
Sources told Postmedia that the youngest brother Meninder was also nearby when the murder happened in a busy stretch of waterfront, packed with people enjoying the sunshine and dining on patios.
All three brothers, who grew up in Abbotsford, are linked to the Brothers Keepers gang.
A firearm with a suppressor could be seen on the sidewalk beside Dhaliwal's body, which remained under a white tarp until early Sunday morning.
Vancouver Police Const. Tania Visintin didn't release the murder victim's name, but Postmedia confirmed it with several sources. And it was circulating in social media tributes.
She said “the victim was pronounced dead on scene after attempts of resuscitation failed by Vancouver Police, Vancouver Fire Rescue Service and B.C. Ambulance Service.”
“Preliminary evidence indicates the shooting was targeted and investigators do not believe there is a specific public safety risk at this time related to this incident,” she said.
But she acknowledged the trauma inflicted on people in the area at the time.
“Although this shooting was targeted, we are very concerned about the potential impact on the public of an incident like this,” Visintin said.
“This happened in a busy spot on a nice evening and an innocent person could have gotten hurt.”
No one has been arrested yet, she said.
Just minutes after the shooting, a man was stabbed during an altercation a block away on West Hastings. He was taken to hospital, where he remains in critical condition.
Visintin said investigators are looking at the possibility the two crimes are connected, though nothing has yet been confirmed.
“We haven't made the link yet — no official link — so it's something we're still looking at,” she said.
An area resident said they heard fighting in the 1400block of Hastings about 8:45 p.m. There were two ball caps on the ground behind police tape late Saturday and blood could be seen on the sidewalk.
Several people dining on outdoor patios near the shooting scene told Postmedia they did not hear shots fired but saw police cars and ambulances racing to the area.
Several streets were blocked off for hours.
The Brothers Keepers, a relatively new Lower Mainland gang linked to the Hells Angels Hardside chapter, has been embroiled in a bloody conflict with at least two rival gangs in recent years.
Harb Dhaliwal was injured in two previous shootings — one in Abbotsford in 2017 and one at Richmond's Lansdowne Mall in December 2018.
His younger brother Meninder was also shot in Richmond in March 2019.
Area resident Jamie Derban was in her family's apartment, which overlooks the Coal Harbour when the shooting happened. She heard really loud bangs that she thought were fireworks.
“I was in my room watching TV. And then I heard sirens, cop cars. I saw the lights. And then I heard a bunch of screaming,” she said.
There is often a lot of noise on the waterfront, so at first she didn't think anything of it. But then she went into the living room and looked down and saw the crime tape and police everywhere.
About two hours after the shooting, an officer asked a woman walking her dog if she had treats, explaining that officers were trying to get a dog out of a car.
People who had parked on Coal Harbour Quay while they walked along the waterfront or ate in the area had to wait for hours to get their vehicles out from behind the police tape.
Gang violence has been down in Vancouver so far this year, Visintin said.
Dhaliwal's slaying is the fifth murder in the city in 2021.
She said the VPD's gang crime unit works in the waterfront area and in other parts of downtown, looking for gang members.
“Our gang crime unit is always downtown of course ... with the restaurants in our bar watch program,” she said.
“We haven't had too much activity in Vancouver this year.”
Visintin said because the murder was targeted, Vancouver homicide detectives will be working with the anti-gang Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit.
“So we have a lot of investigational tactics on this,” she said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the VPD's homicide unit at 604-717-2500.