Police investigate 20th shooting in Surrey and Delta in five weeks

The drive-by shooting took place at roughly 1 a.m. on 66th Avenue near 128th Street. (CTV)

Mounties are investigating yet another shooting in Surrey, committed hours after authorities revealed they’re dealing with a violent turf war between low-level drug dealers.

Like many of the recent shootings in the city, the latest took place in a residential neighbourhood.

Gunfire rang out around 1 a.m. Wednesday on 66th Avenue near 128th Street, in what witnesses describe as a shoot-out between two vehicles.

“They passed me really fast,” said Kevin Adams, who was delivering newspapers in the area. “I pulled over and hid behind some vehicles as they passed by.”

Bullet casings were left littered across three blocks; fortunately, it appears no one was injured.

Mounties said no arrests have been made but they’re looking for a suspect vehicle described as a red pickup truck, which was seen chasing a silver or grey SUV.

The incident brings the total number of shootings in Surrey and neighbouring Delta to 20 in about five weeks. On Tuesday, Mounties announced they have linked 11 of the shootings to a bloody rivalry between two groups they describe as being of Somali and South Asian descent.

The circumstances of the latest shooting are similar to some of the others, but Cpl. Bert Paquet said it’s too soon to say if it’s tied to the turf war.

“If there is a connection between this one and the other ones we’re investigating, this is will be established early in the investigation,” Paquet said.

The shooting, committed near Tamanawis Secondary School, has left residents in the area shaken, particularly families with young children.

Janine Dimelow, who lives in a townhouse complex across the street from the high school, said the gunfire woke her up. She worries crime in the city is worsening.

“We hear it quite often, you know? We hear helicopters overhead and things like that,” she said. “It’s getting scary around here.”

One person has been arrested and charged in connection to the violence so far, but police said efforts to make further arrests have been hindered by a lack of cooperation from the shooting victims.

The RCMP has released names and photos of several targets who were either shot or managed to escape, in the hopes that people who know them will come forward and help their investigation.

They are Surrey residents Adam Lakatos, Derrick Bequette, Chadanjot Gill, Sukhraj Chahal, Tirath Taggar Charandeep Tiwana, Sameh Mohammed, Amrit Kular, Indervir Johal and Pardeep Singh, and Delta residents Shakiel Basra, Sukhpreet Pansal and Pardip Brar.

With files from CTV Vancouver’s Nafeesa Karim