2 shot at outside of Vancouver’s Gallery nightclub, 1 injured

Police in Vancouver say two men were shot at outside of Gallery nightclub early Sunday morning.

The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) says the shooting happened at around 1:50 a.m. outside the club, which is found just under the Arthur Laing Bridge on SW Marine Drive.

VPD officers were called to the nightclub and found an injured 44-year-old man upon arrival and police say a second person was shot at but made it out without any injuries. The 44-year-old man was hospitalized with what police are calling a “serious and potentially life-altering injury.”

Police explain that the two men are believed to have been standing outside when someone walked up, fired multiple shots, and then left in a vehicle.

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A vehicle was later found on fire near Connaught Drive and West 36 Avenue, but police haven’t confirmed whether or not the car fire was related to the shooting.

Sgt. Steve Addison says it was very busy outside the club with it being the weekend before Halloween. He says police are concerned to see violence frequently taking place at a nightclub where “people are supposed to feel safe.”

“Very concerning level of violence to take place anywhere in the city, let alone at a busy club on a busy Saturday night — a Halloween night when there’s a lot of people celebrating,” he said.

“Most of the people were inside the club and some of them didn’t even know that the shooting had occurred … being inside a club when it’s when it’s loud when there’s lots going on, the sound of the gunfire isn’t something that they necessarily would have heard.”

Police say Gallery Vancouver has a history of violent events — with a fatal stabbing outside the club last year, and in September a stolen vehicle was found outside with two loaded firearms.

Addison says police are looking further into the establishment and working with the management of the club to make sure they’re screening who’s coming in.

“This is not something we’re going to tolerate in the city. It’s a level of violence that is not acceptable,” he said. “This is now the third serious incident that’s occurred in the area surrounding this club in recent months, so there’s certainly something going on there.”

“Discussions will be ongoing about our concerns about some of the things that have been happening outside that club and those discussions will continue so that we can ensure that when people in Vancouver — or people who visit Vancouver — want to go out to have a good time they can do so safely without having to worry about being caught in the crossfire of an incident like this.”

Police say no one has been arrested in connection to the shooting so far, and ask anyone with any information regarding the incident to call the VPD Major Crime Section at 604-717-2541.