Langley shootings leave unanswered questions; community meeting being held Tuesday

A day after a deadly rampage in Langley, there’s still not a lot of clarity about the reasons behind the attack. Police are offering help to those in the community who are affected by what happened.

Four people were shot early Monday morning, two of whom died. Two others were hospitalized.

The suspect, Jordan David Goggin, was shot by police. The 28-year-old Surrey man died at the scene.

Goggin was known to police for “non-criminal contacts,” police say. But Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth notes investigators still don’t know the shooter’s motive.

“However … I want British Columbians to feel assured as more info becomes available, we will make that known to the public,” Farnworth said Monday afternoon.

Most of the shootings happened before sunrise, but people across Metro Vancouver knew about the police incident shortly before 6:30 a.m. when they were jolted awake by an emergency alert.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team and Independent Investigations Office of BC have been called in.

On Tuesday, a Community Outreach Event will be held in Langley.

Victim Services, RCMP community liaison officers, as well as crisis counsellors will be onhand to offer their services to anyone in the community in need of support. They will be at the gym at Nickomekl Elementary School from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Read more:

• Three dead, including suspect, after Langley shootings

• ‘Right reason to initiate warning,’ Langley City Mayor says of shooter alert

Meanwhile, the timing of the emergency alerts sent out Monday morning has come under scrutiny. Police confirmed Monday the shootings began around midnight. Others happened at about 3 a.m. and 5 a.m., and then the final shots at the suspect took place at 5:45 a.m. — all before the initial alert was sent out.

The RCMP said each incident was initially treated separately, and “as the information became known, and a proper risk assessment was done, that time was the best time that we’re able to issue the alert and tie these things together.”

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Farnworth said police were dealing with a fluid and dynamic situation and “have learned lessons from what happened in Nova Scotia and in Vanderhoof.” He noted Monday was only the second time in B.C. that an ‘active shooter’ alert was been used. The first was in Vanderhoof in November, 2021.

RCMP Chief Supt. Ghalib Bhayani said the alert was issued after police had determined it met the core criteria needed to be deployed. This criteria includes: Reasonable belief of active threat with significant threat to public; threat is unpredictable and challenging for police to mitigate; and there is sufficient information about the threat and location.

While many people in the region appreciated the warning of possible danger, there were complaints that it woke people up when it went off on phones as far away as Victoria, on Vancouver Island — more than 100kms away.

“I am happy that it was initiated and the reason for it, it was the right reason to initiate it,” City of Langley Mayor Val van den Broek told CityNews.

With files from Charlie Carey and Liza Yuzda