A vehicle torched in Port Moody last Saturday is now being investigated as part of a Coquitlam shooting.
On Monday, Coquitlam RCMP held a press conference to ask for the public’s help about the silver Infinity G35 from the early 2000s that was set on fire on Maude Court in Port Moody shortly after the shooting.
Cpl. Paige Kuz said police received a call on Dec. 4 at around 4:41 p.m. about gun shots in the 1600-block of Chickadee Place, where a man in a car — with his nine-year-old son in the back seat — was targeted.
The victim, who was rushed to hospital with non-life threatening injuries, was released shortly afterward.
Kuz said the victim isn’t known to police and is cooperating with Coquitlam RCMP’s Major Crimes section.
“It is important to note that there remains insufficient evidence to rule out or link this incident to the ongoing Lower Mainland gang conflict, but police do not believe this was a completely random attack.”
She added, “We cannot draw inferences that this shooting was a case of mistaken identity, and the community should not draw inferences about the victim. It remains an active and fluid investigation.”
Kuz said the boy was unharmed, and he and his family are receiving support from RCMP victim services.
She did not confirm the victim lived on Chickadee Place — only that he’s “associated” with the address.
Kuz also wasn’t able to confirm the number of shots fired, or where on the victim’s body he was hurt.
Coquitlam RCMP is asking anyone who was on Westwood Plateau between 4:20 and 5:20 p.m. last Saturday, as well as the area around Maude Court and Noons Creek Drive in Port Moody from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., to call the detachment and, if possible, supply dash cam and video footage of suspicious activity.
Anyone with more information is encouraged to call Coquitlam RCMP at 604-945-1550 and ask for the Major Crime Section, anonymously via Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or go to www.solvecrime.ca.
It’s not the first shooting in Coquitlam this year. On April 19, 20-year-old Bailey McKinney was fatally gunned down while he played basketball with friends at Town Centre Park. And, on May 22, 42-year-old Mir Aali Hussain was shot to death in a Maillardville residential neighbourhood. Both men were known to police.
In April, shots were fired at Urban Roots garden centre in City Centre, next to Coquitlam Centre mall, while on Jan. 10, RCMP responded to a drive-by shooting in the 1400-block of Kingston Street on Burke Mountain. Shortly afterwards, officers found a car on fire in the 3500-block of Gislason Avenue.
As well, in January and March, shots rang out at two apartments blocks on North Road in Burquitlam.
- with files from Kyle Balzer, Tri-City News
