Bullets fly in Metro Vancouver for 5th straight day
Bullets fly in Metro Vancouver for 5th straight day
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090307/gangs_crime_090307/20090307?hub=Canada
Updated Sat. Mar. 7 2009 8:22 PM ET
The Canadian Press
VANCOUVER — Shootings in Metro Vancouver used to occur almost daily — now they are happening daily. For the fifth straight day, shots rang out, this time in the suburban city Coquitlam, RCMP Cpl. Peter Thiessen said Saturday. “It’s just turning into one day after another that police in general in the Lower Mainland are responding at a significant level to these shootings,” said Thiessen. “It’s not clear what the dispute was over.” He said some young men got into an argument near a restaurant Friday night and one man went to a vehicle, got a handgun and fired between eight and 12 shots at another group of young men. He said one bullet went through the window of a neighbouring residence and lodged in a wall. Nobody was injured in the home or from the shooting by the unidentified male. The suspect and several other males fled in a dark-coloured SUV.When police reached the scene, “everybody had fled from both sides and there was just a large number of shell casings remaining at the scene.” “Certainly it’s another example of how quickly firearms are being utilized in these types of disputes involving young, 20-something men.” There are no suspects and Thiessen said it’s not clear if the shooting was gang-related. He expressed the concern that is likely foremost in the minds of many members of the public. “How many 20-something young men are driving around with handguns in their vehicles for one purpose or another, whether they are associated to gang activity or not?” The Friday night shooting followed an admission Thursday by Vancouver city police that they have an all-out gang war on their hands. The admission came as they announced the arrests of two alleged gang leaders. Police say the men were arrested as part of a crackdown on a drug turf war that has turned the southeastern sector of Vancouver into a “battleground,” involving more than 100 shootings in recent years. While area police forces have previously steered clear of using the term “gang war,” Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu made it clear that’s what police and the public are up against. “As police, we’ve always been told by media experts to never say or admit that there is a gang war,” said Chu. “Well, let’s get serious. There is a gang war and it’s brutal.” There have been 31 shootings in the Metro Vancouver region since late January, 12 of them deadly. Shots have been fired every day since Monday somewhere in Metro Vancouver.
Im my opinion this is not a world that I want to live in, where I have to be careful because who knows if where I am is where gang members are. Its really shocking to here that there has been so many shootings in one area like Metro Vancouver region where since January 12 there has been 31 shootings where 12 of them were deadly. We have come to a crazy and diffcult kind a society where everyone thinks that killing seems to slove all problems which in reality it doesn’t. Is there no remorse for killing some innocent person because of one stupid or crucial decision they made long ago is now the actual cause of death. You really have to watch your back these days. In this article a man got into an argument near a restaurant and the one man went to the car, got a handgun and fired between eight and 12 shots at another group of young men. I truely don’t understand. You have to be careful. I really wouldn’t want to piss off a gang memember when driving because who knows he could have a handgun with him and then what I’m dead. This is scary stuff. 1st Point of View:
For gang members this had become a way of life. For the person who is being hunted down and killed because he didn’t pay for drugs or do something that they were supposed to do, should they really be just killed. This is how gangs react and it’s probably the only way that they can think of a solution to a problem. If I was in a gang I would live my life just the same as those that do now. Shootings that deal with “turf” collection are really stupid way of getting it. I may not understand what is like to be in a gang but with whats going on right now I’m really glad that I’m not.
2nd Point of View:
As a member of the public I’m not quite sure why all of this happens. What about the families that this effects. How would they feel to hear that their child was shot. What about the innocent people who are in the right place at the wrong time? But unfortuantely we aren’t going to see anything being done until our judical system learns that slaps on the hands are not effective at all. The war of shootings and crimes that gangs commits is not going to stop. I find it astonishing that someone could get a gun and just shoot them over drugs or “turf”. I also feel sorry for those families whose children chose a life of crime and drugs which slowly creeps up on them and then boom they are dead. I honestly don`t see a change going to be made quite yet.
