Vancouver Police are investigating a “targeted shooting” at the spot where a teenager was killed in a sword attack in January.
Const. Brian Montague confirmed to The Vancouver Sun that police were called to the 6300-block of Elgin Street about 1:30 a.m. May 27th after getting several 911 calls about “shots fired.”
“Our officers attended and confirmed that shots had been fired at a home in the block. The attack was targeted and the investigation into who is responsible is on-going,” Montague said. “There were people in the home at the time of the incident, but no one was injured.”
Vancouver resident Manraj Akalirai, 19, was nearly beheaded on the street outside the house when he was attacked by a group of people late on Jan. 23.
Last month, Amritpal Dhillon, 20, was charged with second degree murder in Akalirai’s death, while Amritpaul Rakhra, 18, was charged with manslaughter. Both will be arraigned in Vancouver Provincial Court on June 4.
Montague said police are looking at a possible link to the earlier murder as part of their probe.
“We will of course look at other investigations as well as other leads and theories to determine who is responsible, but it is too early in this investigation to conclusively make any links to other incidents or specific groups,” Montague said.
When charges in Akalirai’s murder were laid last month, VPD Insp. Laurence Rankin said the motive is believed to have been “an on-going conflict between two groups.”
“There was an issue between them and as a result of that issue, a conflict unfolded which led to the death of Mr. Akalirai,” he said.