Surrey extortion victims under investigation for possibly firing back

Police in Surrey are urging victims of extortion-related shootings not to resort to “vigilantism” amid near-daily incidents targeting homes and businesses.

After an extortion-related shooting at a house in Surrey’s Bear Creek neighbourhood on Saturday, police now say they are investigating whether the targets fired back.

Police were initially called to the home in the 8600 block of Galway Crescent around 2:20 a.m., and while the house was damaged by gunfire, nobody inside was injured.

On Monday, Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton of the Surrey Police Service said that “information and evidence” collected at the scene prompted officers to open an investigation into “whether or not one or more people” inside the house “carelessly used firearms” during the incident.

Houghton cautioned victims against taking matters into their own hands.

“The police do not condone or encourage vigilantism,” he told CTV News. “If you arm yourself with a firearm and you indiscriminately shoot in our community, that puts all of us at risk. There is the very real potential that you may injure or kill your neighbour, and I ask you if you want that on your head. I don’t think you do.”

The SPS says that there have been 34 reports of extortion in Surrey alone so far this year, seven of which involved gunfire. The reports have come from 21 separate victims, 16 of whom have been targeted more than once.

“Those numbers are disturbing, and they should be very upsetting to everybody. It’s wholly unacceptable that there are people in our community that are victimizing and, in some cases, repeatedly victimizing residents and business owners, and they have the ability to stop this,” Houghton said.

“I can tell you that it is only a matter of time before someone is either injured or killed.”

Police urged anyone with information about potential extortion suspects to call the SPS at 604-599-0502.