Police warn of escalating gang violence

Friday's shooting outside of a Langley shopping centre is a grim reminder that public places are no longer immune from gang violence. Police warn that people should be concerned about the recent escalation of violence.

The increasing occurrences of violence have prompted the creation of gang task forces, covering Vancouver, the Lower Mainland, and B.C. The only things we haven't seen in connection with these shootings are charges.

"It's an easy perception to conclude is that yeah, they must think they're never going to get caught," said Insp. Dean Robinson of the Vancouver Police's Gang Unit in October. "These files will be closed and charges will be forthcoming."

But the cases continue to pile up. From last fall's killing of 34-year-old Rakesh Ratnam Naidu in the parkade of Oakridge shopping mall to the fatal shooting of 21-year-old Raphael Baldini in the Guildford Shopping Centre lot this past week.

"The violence can occur for any reason, and it can happen anywhere," says Sgt. Shinder Kirk of B.C.'s Integrated Gang Task Force.

Kirk says a well-entrenched drug trade is one of the root causes of the ongoing violence, but he says there could be many motives for these opportunistic shootings.

"It could be driven by anything," he says. "It could an interpersonal dispute, or it could be a dispute between groups, or it could be a dispute between friends who are involved in the same group."

And those killings can set investigators back even further, as suspects sometimes become victims themselves.

"The big question I get is should people be concerned, and absolutely we can't minimize what's occurring, because it can happen anywhere at anytime," Kirk says. "But we're saying that it's now time to get angry."

Kirk's message is meant for people with key pieces of information that could help crack these cases.

He's hoping they'll get fed up with the violence and start talking. Because he warns, they could end up being silenced for good.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Maria Weisgarber