Suspected killer had hit list
Mitchell planned to target 10 people, businesses, police say
Suspected killer Angus David Mitchell had a hit list of 10 people and businesses he was planning to target on his murderous rampage when he died in a police shootout May 30, RCMP said Tuesday.
Insp. Kevin Hackett, head of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team ( IHIT), said his team had come across “chilling new evidence” that Mitchell, 26, might have killed and wounded many more innocents if he hadn’t been stopped by police.
Mitchell is believed to have gunned down sushi restaurant owner Huong Tran and his employee Chinh Diem Huynh at about 9: 30 p. m. on May 27 before shooting his former landlord two nights later.
“IHIT investigators have examined evidence which clearly indicates Mitchell had plans to target five businesses and five specific individuals in total, of which the sushi restaurant and his former landlord were only the first,” Hackett told a packed Surrey news conference Tuesday.
“Mitchell appears to have spent time gathering information about his intended victims and planning his entry and escape routes from each location.”
He said the targets were right across the Lower Mainland.
Hackett said that while Mitchell had disputes with the people on the hit list, there is no clear motive yet beyond the suspect’s fragile mental state.
Several people interviewed by The Vancouver Sun described incidents of aggression, hostility and instability by Mitchell, a former security guard, dating back years.
While “investigators continue to search for motive, we are not confident we will find one that will make any sense,” Hackett said.
“Of one thing we are certain: Had he not been located when he was, the potential for additional loss of life was extreme.”
IHIT’s Sgt. Jennifer Pound said some of Mitchell’s beefs appear to date back to 2009.
“We really need to look a little deeper and figure out what this was all about,” Pound said.
Hackett credited Maple Ridge resident Susanne Murphy with calling 911 about an hour after a public warning about Mitchell was issued May 30. She passed Mitchell’s distinctive green van on a gravel road en route to
The fact that Ms. Murphy took the initiative ... to be vigilant and to notify the police through 911 ... ultimately helped us locate him.
INSP. KEVIN HACKETT INTEGRATED HOMICIDE INVESTIGATION TEAM
walk her dog. Mitchell had documents in the van with names, addresses and escape routes for his other targets, Hackett said.
He said the rifle used in the Burnaby shootings appears to be the firearm legally registered to Mitchell.
It was seized by Victoria police in February but was returned to Mitchell several weeks later, despite concerns about his mental health.
Hackett said he had no information about why Victoria police returned the gun.
Vancouver police are investigating that aspect of the case, as well as the fatal shooting of the suspect.
Investigators are awaiting the results of a forensic examination to definitely confirm it’s the same firearm used in the Burnaby cases, but say it’s the same make and model.
Hackett praised all police jurisdictions that worked together to locate Mitchell and notify the people on the hit list or others with whom he had perceived grievances.
“This investigation and subsequent response by all of the partner agencies and units responsible for public safety was remarkable.”
Hackett said much work remains to be done in the case, even though the key suspect is now dead.
Mitchell’s former landlord is recovering in hospital and provided vital information that helped break the case open.
“He suffered extensive injuries. He is lucky to be alive,” Pound said. “He came forward and identified the suspect … he is to be commended.”
The surviving people on the hit list, whose identities were not disclosed publicly, have all been interviewed and are very traumatized, Hackett said.
He confirmed that murder victim Chinh Diem Huynh — and not her employer — was the person on the list from the Royal Oak Sushi House, though he couldn’t provide a link between Mitchell and Huynh.
“The sushi restaurant was the first targeted location on the list,” Hackett said. “We haven’t been able to determine what the reason was for that.”
Mitchell, who grew up in Vernon, had been living in both Metro Vancouver and Victoria in recent years.
He had problems with at least two of his former security jobs and was fired. He had disputes with roommates and ended up leaving residences.
In September 2011, Vancouver police went to Mitchell’s residence on Euclid Avenue for a dispute between him and his roommates.
“He was arrested for breach of the peace and later released,” said Vancouver police spokesman Const. Lindsey Houghton. “He wasn’t charged with any criminal offence.”
In November 2011, a Victoria security firm complained to Victoria police and wrote a letter of complaint about Mitchell to B. C.’ s Security Services Division, which regulates licences for security guards. A justice branch representative could not speak to the content of the letter, saying it is being shared with police during the investigation.
It does not appear Mitchell’s security licence was revoked, as he went on to work for Themis Security as a contractor as recently as five weeks ago.
Themis Security owner Mirko Filipovic was the subject of an angry rant Mitchell posted on his Facebook page shortly before the shooting rampage.
It appears neither Themis Security nor Filipovic were on the hit list.
Simon Fraser University criminologist Neil Boyd said the presence of a written hit list might be unusual in Canada, but the likely motive — revenge — is common in many homicides.
“It is interesting that they found the list, but one can point to a lot of homicides that are motivated by revenge, for getting back at people,” Boyd said. “Some sort of perverse notion of how to get revenge is a pretty dominant motive in homicide.”
Boyd said a high- profile Canadian example was that of Valery Fabrikant, a mechanical engineering associate professor who killed four co- workers at Concordia University in 1992 because he believed they were part of the reason he had been denied advancement at the school.
In 1989, Marc Lépine killed 14 women at École Polytechnique in Montreal. Lépine also had a list of 19 other women he wanted to kill because he blamed feminists for “ruining his life.”
Boyd said it is difficult to say with certainty that people should have seen “warning signs” before Mitchell’s rampage, noting that while many people voice outrage, very few make the leap to homicidal violence.
In this case, Mitchell’s angry Facebook tirade against a former boss did not, on its own, mean he intended to shoot his past employer, Boyd added.