West Vancouver Police are investigating a late-night shooting at a local home.
Dispatch received 911 calls just after midnight on Nov. 24.
“Our patrol teams received a report of shots fired outside of a residence. There were no injuries as a result of this,” said Sgt. Mark McLean, West Vancouver police spokesperson. “We believe that it was targeted to a particular residence and that there’s no further ongoing danger to the public at large.”
Investigators, however, are being more tight-lipped than usual about the details, choosing not to publicly acknowledge the attack in a press release after the incident or release any information about where it happened “for investigative and safety reasons,” McLean said.
“There’s some unique challenges that the investigators have faced in terms of their investigation,” McLean said. “We’re withholding that information at this time, but the investigation is very active.”
The parties involved, however, may not be so circumspect. Several Punjabi, Indian and Pakistani publications have run stories stemming from the incident after a famous Bollywood singer and actor posted on social media that it was his home that was targeted.
That was followed up by a post from an organized crime group in India who took responsibility for the attack, and warned it was “just a teaser” in an ongoing gang dispute.
The victim’s social media post expressed shock at the shooting and stated he had “no enmity with anyone.”
“We’re very much aware of those reports and the investigators have seen those comments online,” McLean said. “But we’re not in a position yet where we can confirm that those are the parties involved or not.”
Investigators did extensive canvassing for surveillance footage captured in the area at the time of the shooting. McLean said the home and a vehicle were both hit, but could not offer any details beyond that.
“Any time that there’s gunplay in our community, that’s a serious safety concern and something we take with the utmost seriousness,” he said. “The neighbours of this property are aware of the incident and we’ve worked with them as far as safety planning.”
