Coquitlam shooting victim dies, IHIT called in

The person who was shot in Coquitlam Saturday afternoon has died, the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) confirmed on Monday.

IHIT says the Coquitlam RCMP responded to reports of a shooting in the area of Westwood Street and Glen Drive just after 4 p.m. on Jan. 6.

When they arrived, officers found one man with life-threatening injuries. He was taken to the hospital but later died of his injuries, investigators say.

The Lower Mainland’s homicide team has now taken over the investigation and is working with Coquitlam Mounties, the BC Coroners Service, and the Integrated Forensic Identification Section.

“It’s always concerning to us when shootings happen, particularly in public areas. This was a situation, in the middle of the day at 4 p.m., approximately when the shooting happened there were plenty of people around,” Sgt. Timothy Pierotti of IHIT explained Monday.

“It’s always scary when things like this happen, and there’s risk for further public, innocent victims. But we’re going to continue to work with our partners to try to prevent anything like this from continuing to happen.”

---

---

Police explain the victim is a 21-year-old Coquitlam man, however, his name is not being released at this time.

Pierotti says he’s aware that this shooting was just one of three in Coquitlam in the last several days, adding IHIT will work to determine whether there are any links between the incidents.

“Situations like this always bring fear to the public, particularly when there’s multiple in the same area within a short period of time. We do believe that this was a targeted incident, that the person who was killed on Jan. 6 … was the target of that shooting. We have no reason to believe that there’s going to be another shooting that comes from this, but we’re going to continue to work with the Coquitlam RCMP to keep the area safe,” he explained.

He adds the victim was known to police, though he couldn’t elaborate on what prior run-ins the man had with law enforcement.

“As you’re aware, often we do release the name of the victim. It is something that we often do find a necessity to do that. This situation, we chose not to. It doesn’t mean that later on down the road we might not change our mind, it depends on how the investigation progresses,” he said.

“What I can say is that, at this time, [investigators] see no benefit in doing that, and the family has specifically asked for that privacy, so we’re doing our best to respect that.”

No arrests have been made, though Pierotti says witnesses identified at least two suspects.

A community on edge

In the meantime, some locals say they’re concerned about the recent spike of violence.

“As someone who just moved here, it is a little scary hearing this news because I have a young child,” one resident said.

In a statement to CityNews, Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart says the city is committed to public safety and ensuring the wellbeing of its residents, but some say there needs to be more transparency.

“Since a lot of people aren’t able to see news on social media anymore, I wish there was more awareness and updates being given, at least from City Hall, about what’s been going on,” the same resident said.

Numbers from data-gathering platform Statista show that homicides by shooting in Canada have been steadily on the rise over the past 10 years, hitting a peak of 343 deaths in 2022. Meanwhile, the Toronto-based Coalition for Gun Control is calling for stricter firearm regulations and better searches at border crossings.

“A substantial proportion of the guns recovered in crimes originate in the U.S. We definitely are disadvantaged. We share a border with a country that has as many guns as people. So smuggled guns are definitely part of the problem,” said Wendy Cukier with the coalition.

Investigators are urging anyone with information about the shooting to contact the IHIT Information Line at 1-877-551-IHIT (4448) or by email at ihitinfo@rcmp-grc.gc.ca. 

-With files from OMNI News, Pippa Norman and Cecilia Hua