RAVINDER Samra, 36, of Richmond was the person shot dead on Thursday in Richmond, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has now confirmed.

He was the brother of Amarpreet Samra of the United Nations gang who was shot and killed last May outside Vancouver’s Fraserview Banquet Hall where he had been at a wedding reception.

Incidentally, a story that this newspaper had published about Samra in 2015 titled “Police focus on Saturday’s victim Ravinder Samra, 28, who was also shot before in ongoing drug trade turf war” had been trending on our website since last night.

On Thursday, July 27, 2023 at 5:45 p.m., Richmond RCMP received multiple reports of shots fired in the 8000-block of Minler Road. Frontline officers and BC Emergency Health Services (EHS) attended and located Ravinder Samra suffering from gunshot wounds. Despite all efforts to revive him, he succumbed to his injuries at the scene.

A short time later, Richmond RCMP and Richmond Fire Department were called to reports of a vehicle found engulfed in flames in the 12000-block of Blundell Road. At this time, IHIT investigators believe this vehicle is associated to the shooting.

IHIT said it is in the early stages of its investigation and its investigators are completing priority tasks.  “We continue to work closely with the Richmond RCMP, Integrated Forensic Identification Services and BC Coroners Service,” it added.

IHIT said it was releasing a photo and the name of the victim to further its investigation and to build a timeline of his activities for the days leading up to his death.

“Mr. Samra was known to police and we believe this was a targeted shooting associated to the BC Gang Conflict,” said IHIT spokesperson Cpl. Sukhi Dhesi.

IHIT investigators are asking for any witnesses, dashcam or CCTV footage from the area of the 8000-block of Minler Road from July 27 between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Anyone in the area of the12000-block of Blundell Road from July 27 between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. with dashcam or CCTV footage is urged to contact IHIT immediately.

“These are unsettling incidents for members of our community. I urge anyone who wishes to talk to someone to contact Victim Services and IHIT investigators,” said Dhesi.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the IHIT Information Line at 1-877-551-IHIT (4448) or by email at ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.

RAVINDER Samra was among several gangsters about whom police had issued warnings both in 2021 and 2022.

In August 2022, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of British Columbia (CFSEU-BC), in partnership with its policing partners, issued a public warning due to what police said was the significant threat to the public posed by 11 individuals involved in ongoing gang conflicts and their connection to high levels of violence.

One of those 11 individuals was Ravinder Samra who was 35 years old at the time.

The CFSEU-BC had also issued a public warning in May 2021 regarding 11 individuals involved in the Lower Mainland Gang Conflict. It said that these individuals posed a significant threat to the public. The CFSEU-BC said that these individuals are known to police and have been connected to the current spike in violence. Police believed that anyone with them or in their proximity could be putting themselves at risk. The CFSEU-BC said it was issuing a public warning and identifying them in order for family, friends, associates and the public to take measures to increase their own personal safety.

One of those 11 individuals was Ravinder Samra who was 34 years old at the time.

Six years before that — in June 2015 – police announced that Ravinder Samra, who was 28 years old at the time, was one of two victims at an exchange of gunfire in the 18600-block of Highway 10 in Cloverdale and he had also been a victim of a shooting earlier in the ongoing low-level drug trade turf war that began in March 2015 in Surrey.

Surrey RCMP announced at a press conference at the time: “Samra remains very uncooperative with police.  Police have learned that Samra was at the Cactus Club in Langley just prior to the shooting.  We are hoping that anyone who was at the Langley Cactus Club and may have information relating to Samra could give police a call.”

Police also released surveillance photos of Samra to the media at the time.

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Amarpreet Samra, 28, shot and killed outside South Vancouver banquet hall (update)