THE Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) announced on Friday that charges of first-degree murder have been laid against DeAndre Baptiste, Balraj Basra and Iqbal Kang in the Monday, October 17 homicide of Vishal Walia in Vancouver.
They have remained in custody following their arrests on October 17 itself.
On October 17 at 9:49 a.m., University RCMP received reports of a shooting at the University Golf Club, located in the 5100-block of University Boulevard on the University Endowment Lands. Officers located Walia suffering from fatal gunshot wounds.
At 10:02 a.m., a vehicle fire was reported in the laneway located in the 4000-block of West 20 Avenue in Vancouver. A suspect vehicle was quickly identified by Vancouver Police Department (VPD) members responding to the vehicle fire.
Shortly after 10:15 a.m., members from VPD, BC Highway Patrol and the Richmond RCMP, arrested Baptiste, Basra and Kang in relation to the homicide and vehicle arson.
IHIT took conduct of the homicide investigation and immediately began working closely with VPD, University RCMP and the Richmond RCMP to identify evidence linking the offences. The investigation was supported by the BC Highway Patrol, E-Division Major Crimes Section, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, Langley RCMP and the RCMP Integrated Forensic Identification Section.
“This timely outcome could not have happened without the unwavering support from our partners,” said IHIT Sgt. Timothy Pierotti. “Despite being a multi-jurisdictional investigation, IHIT was able to efficiently advance the investigation throughout the week.”
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