THERE have been 53 shootings in Surrey this year, according to a Global News report on Wednesday.

The 53 shootings are an 89-per-cent increase over last year’s shootings, Global News reported.

It said that shootings that involved vehicles being damaged increased by 189 per cent this year as compared to last year and those that involved home and businesses being targeted increased by 208 per cent.

Surrey Police Service (SPS) media relations officer Sgt. Tige Pollock told The VOICE in an email: “The stats referenced by Global are accurate. I think it is important for context to acknowledge that the shooting stats increase is driven by the number of shootings related to extortions (27).”

He added: “I think it’s also important to note that in some cases, numerous vehicles or buildings were struck in one shooting occurrence. Once again these stats are driven by the number of extortion occurrences.”