Long-time City of Vancouver employee killed, officials confirm

Police were called to a Burnaby cul-de-sac, Wickham Place, with reports of shots fired around noon Wednesday (CTV's Scott Hurst).

The City of Vancouver has confirmed that a long-time city employee was killed Wednesday.

“The City Management Team, elected official and staff across all departments are shocked and saddened to learn of the tragic murder of a long-time City employee,” reads a statement from the City of Vancouver Thursday morning.

A relative identified the victim as Hanif Jessa, noting that he lived with his wife and had two grown children.

Police were called to a Burnaby cul-de-sac, Wickham Place, with reports of shots fired around noon Wednesday. A wounded man was rushed to the hospital, and succumbed to his injury.

Neighbour Thomas Pu was one of the first people on the scene. He told CTV News that Jessa was a pleasant, helpful man. Pu said Jessa was shot in his car outside his home.

“His son was screaming, in shock,” Pu said.

Later in the day, Vancouver police officers were dispatched to multiple work yards and job sites, confirming that a city employee was threatened.

An employee at the National Works Yard in Strathcona told CTV News the evening shifts were cancelled and the facility was put on lockdown. Workers were allowed to leave but no one was allowed to enter.

Mayor Gregor Robertson released a statement on Wednesday saying the city experienced a “serious incident.”

“This kind of incident is very challenging for the thousands of hardworking staff who come to work every day to make Vancouver a better place,” Robertson said.

By Thursday morning, the City of Vancouver reported that security measures had decreased and the City would return to normal operations.

“Over the course of yesterday, following the tragic incident, precautionary security measures were put in place on the advice of VPD,” reads the statement. “At this time, those measures are no longer necessary and the City is returning to normal operations.”

Vancouver police confirmed that as "the risk to a City of Vancouver employee has been substantially reduced, the VPD are scaling back resources at work sites.” The investigation has been handed over to IHIT.

At a press conference Thursday afternoon, Vancouver Police Sgt. Randy Fincham told reporters that “specific individuals” who work for the city were believed to be at risk after the shooting, prompting the heightened security measures.

The city and the VPD were notified of the threats to employees shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday, Fincham said.

Speaking at the same press conference, Robertson said there had been no previous threats that he was aware of to the individual workers who were targeted. The mayor also said he didn’t believe that the shooting or the threats were the result of a conflict between city workers.

“It’s totally premature to think that it had anything to do with what was going on at the city,” he said. “I can’t really comment on issues related to HR.”

In honour of the victim, who Robertson said had worked for the city for 25 years, the flags at City Hall were flying at half-mast on Thursday.