Brothers shot to death within three-week span
A pair of brothers have been killed in apparently targeted shootings just weeks apart.
Keith Baldwin, 27, was found by the side of Yale Road in Chilliwack on Oct. 22 with a gunshot wound to the head and died later in hospital.
Then on Monday, Nov. 11, his brother, Andrew Baldwin, 30, was shot inside a home in Surrey.
The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) is probing both deaths. Neither shooting is considered random and it isn’t clear if either or both are gang-related.
“I can confirm they were brothers,” said the IHIT’s Sgt. Frank Jang. “We’re still trying to establish if the two incidents are linked.”
Friends and relatives are reluctant to talk about the cases or to have their names used, especially after the second shooting.
“There is a dark underworld we have allowed to take hold,” said pastor Jim Toohey, who was acting as a mentor to Keith in his recovery from substance abuse. “These crimes have snuffed out a lot of potential.”
Keith had entered a recovery program at Adult and Teen Challenge of B.C. earlier this year.
“It’s a very demanding faithbased program, that’s why it’s called a challenge,” he said. “Aspects of it were working and I know from talking with him on the phone that there was more Keith there than before. All his faculties were coming back. It definitely was working.”
Unfortunately, he left the program early and relapsed.
“I think he was emotionally exhausted,” said Toohey. “During that time away, aspects of his former life resurfaced and drew him in.”
Both brothers are known to police, but in Keith’s case he hadn’t had a run-in with the law since 2011.
“We urge anyone with details of Andrew Baldwin’s activities before his unfortunate death to come forward and speak to investigators,” said Jang. “We also urge any witnesses and drivers with dashcam video who were in the area of Old Yale and Scott Road to contact us.”