Vancouver: Before being shot by police, a shooter shot four people while walking in Vancouver, killing two of them. Officials said he also opened fire at a casino, a shelter for the homeless and other places.
According to officials, the shooting began early in the morning in Langley, a bedroom community, and continued until the sun rose. At first, it was thought that the shooting was directed at homeless people.
The first shootings occurred at midnight at casinos, and additional shootings occurred at 3 a.m., 5 a.m., and 5.45 a.m., including at a housing complex that supports homeless moving out. Police said a highway and a bus stop were other shooting sites.
Evidence of a stampede was found throughout the night at Langley, including a shopping cart full of personal belongings and a bicycle that overturned, leaving personal items scattered on the road.
At 6:20 a.m., police issued a mobile phone alert to locals asking them to "please stay alert and stay out of the area" as they responded to multiple shootings "involving transient victims". But by then the shooter was dead. Later, a homicide investigation spokesman, Sergeant David Lee, told reporters that it was not clear whether the victims were homeless.
A man who was shot in the leg was discovered near a highway bypass after an emergency response team confronted the suspect, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. According to Mounted Superintendent of Police Ghalib Bhayani, the gunman was shot by the police at that time. Jordan Daniels Goggins was later identified by police as the shooter. The motive is being investigated.
According to Bhayani, the officers are unaware of any connection between the shooter and his victims. According to him, British Columbia's Independent Investigative Office, a civilian-led police watchdog, is investigating the suspect's death. According to the police, apart from the man with a leg injury, a woman also suffered injuries and was taken to a hospital in a critical condition.
The shooting rocked Langley, a 29,000-person town located 48 kilometers (30 mi) southeast of Vancouver. An approximately 350-acre (142 ha) park with a variety of stores and eateries can be found in the city. To move to Vancouver, British Columbia's largest city, many residents moved to Langley for their less expensive housing. Gunfire broke out in the town of Langley. In nearby Langley Township, shootings were reported.
Ambulances and police vehicles gathered at a shopping center after the firing started. Yellow police tape was used to demarcate the area, and an important intersection was sealed off. A black tent was put up over the crime scene. On social media, a homicide team announced that its investigators had been sent to Langley to assist. At least seven bullet holes were found in the windscreen and the site of one bullet was through the driver's window of an unmarked police SUV, which was close to a bus depot.
There are comparatively fewer mass shootings in Canada than in the US. In 2020, a man posing as a police officer carried out the deadliest gun stampede in Canadian history, setting fire to the province of Nova Scotia, killing 22 and shooting people inside their homes. After a shooter at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique College killed 14 women and himself in 1989, the nation completely rewritten its gun control laws. Rapid-fire weapons of any kind, including unregistered handguns, are now banned in Canada. The nation also conducts weapons-purchasing training, a personal risk assessment, two references, spouse notification and criminal record checks.
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