Three killed, others injured in shooting near Vancouver, Canada

Vancouver, The Gulf Observer: Three people, including the suspected gunman, have been killed in a series of morning shootings in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said most of the shootings happened in downtown Langley, about 48 kilometers south-east of Vancouver, beginning at about midnight local time.

Four people were shot by what was believed to be a lone male gunman.

Two men were found dead. Another man and a woman were injured. The woman is in critical condition in hospital, police said.

The shooter was injured when police located him and officers shot him dead at the scene, they added.

“We’re still investigating to determine if the gunman had acted alone,” RCMP Chief Superintendent Ghalib Bhayani said.

“While the investigation is ongoing, all indications are that there was nobody else involved and there is no further ongoing threat to public safety.”

Shooting occurred at at least five different locations throughout the City of Langley and the Township of Langley.

Police had asked the public to remain out of several areas, including the car park of a casino and a bus stop.

Authorities had issued an emergency alert for multiple shootings involving “transient victims”, which led to suggestions the victims were homeless.

But Sergeant David Lee from the RCMP’s homicide investigation team said he could not confirm the victims were homeless and officers were still trying to determine if they had any relationship to the gunman.

The shooter and the victims have been identified but the police have not released that information.

The alert described the suspect as a white man in overalls and a camouflage T-shirt.

Yellow police tape surrounded a sandwich shop and a parking lot at the scene of one of the shootings.

A black tent was set up over one of the crime scenes.

Mass shootings are less common in Canada than in the United States.

The deadliest gun rampage in Canadian history happened in 2020 when a man disguised as a RCMP officer shot people in their homes and set fires across the province of Nova Scotia, killing 22 people.

The country overhauled its gun-control laws after an attacker killed 14 women at Montreal’s Ecole Polytechnique college in 1989.

It is now illegal to possess an unregistered handgun or any kind of rapid-fire weapon in Canada.

To purchase a weapon, a person requires training, a personal-risk assessment, criminal record checks, two references, and spousal notification.