Police do not think recent shootings indicate a gang war

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SURREY (NEWS1130) – With two recent gang-related murders in the Lower Mainland in recent days, police are waving the notion that another gang war is upon us.

Sgt. Lindsey Houghton, with BC’s Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, feels the make up of Lower Mainland gangs is changing.

“People are removed by putting them in jail, or through homicides, other people will fill that void. What we’re seeing is the formation of different power blocks. Gangsters and criminals who used to be sworn enemies, some of them are now working together.”

Houghton says it appears to be the fallout of violence that has happened in the past few years. “This is just a continuation in our minds of some of that violence that started with the homicide of Gurmit Dhak several years ago. We’ve seen a number of incidents flow from that, that we think is really one of the major flashpoints in recent years.”

So who is at risk? “Well you don’t have to go back very far to remember the murders of Suhk Dahk and Thomas Mantel in Coquitlam. A daylight shooting, right in front of a very busy hotel,” he says.

Surrey RCMP’s Officer in Charge is assuring people who live in Surrey that they are safe. While acknowledging that some may be fearful in the aftermath of some high profile murders, Chief Superintendent Bill Fordy says that the murders all have a common theme, and that is a relation to gangs.

Surrey is safe, Fordy says, because most of its residents are law-abiding citizens with no involvement with criminal activity. “Here, like everywhere else, is not safe for those involved in the violent underworld sub-culture where the ‘law of the jungle’ still prevails,” Fordy said.

Earlier today, police received a call about shots being fired on 112B Avenue near 127th Street in Bridgeview. IHIT has confirmed the identity of the homicide victim from this morning to be 29 year old Manjinder “Manny” Hairan. There are unconfirmed reports that Hairan has been targeted before.

On Sunday night, there was another deadly shooting. This one was near 168th Street and 76th Avenue. The victim in that case has been identified as 27-year-old Manjot Dhillon of Surrey; he had a criminal record.

Two people were gunned down a few hours later that night at 128th Street and 94th Avenue in Surrey, and that shooting in not believed to have any gang ties. Those victims have been identified as 33 year old John Edward McGiveron and 33 year old Geordie Wesley Carlow. Both men were from Surrey and known to police.

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