Bullet holes are seen in the windshield and driver's side window of an RCMP vehicle at the scene of a shooting, in Langley, B.C., on July 25.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
Two people were killed and two others injured in a six-hour shooting rampage early Monday morning in the suburban Vancouver-area community of Langley. A suspect was also killed by police.
Authorities had initially indicated that at least some of the victims were “transient,” raising fears that a gunman was methodically preying on the vulnerable. At an update later on in the day, police said they were still working to confirm whether the victims were homeless.
Police identified the suspect Monday afternoon as Jordan Daniel Goggin, 28, of Surrey, and said he was known to police but for non-criminal contacts, such as being a complainant.
The shootings began around midnight on Monday near the Cascades Casino on Fraser Highway, where a woman sustained critical injuries, said Sergeant David Lee with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team.
Vancouver
Burnaby
Surrey
Richmond
Langley
Delta
0
6
KM
U.S.
Shooting locations
1
Creek Stone Place
A man found dead
2
204th St and Fraser Hwy
A woman was shot and taken
to hospital in critical condition
3
Logan Ave and Glover Rd
A man found dead
4
Highway 10 and 200th St
A man shot in the leg; suspect shot
and killed by police
4
10
Glover Rd
Logan Ave
Fraser Hwy
200th St
3
2
204th St
1
0
500
m
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: TILEZEN;
OPENSTREETMAP CONTRIBUTORS; RCMP
Vancouver
Burnaby
Surrey
Richmond
Langley
Delta
0
6
KM
U.S.
Shooting locations
1
Creek Stone Place
A man found dead
2
204th St and Fraser Hwy
A woman was shot and taken
to hospital in critical condition
3
Logan Ave and Glover Rd
A man found dead
4
Highway 10 and 200th St
A man shot in the leg; suspect shot
and killed by police
4
10
Glover Rd
Logan Ave
Fraser Hwy
200th St
3
2
204th St
1
0
500
m
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: TILEZEN;
OPENSTREETMAP CONTRIBUTORS; RCMP
Shooting locations
1
Creek Stone Place
A man found dead
2
204th St and Fraser Hwy
A woman was shot and taken
to hospital in critical condition
3
Logan Ave
and Glover Rd
A man found dead
4
Highway 10 and 200th St
A man shot in the leg;
suspect shot and killed by police
4
10
Vancouver
Burnaby
Glover Rd
Logan Ave
Surrey
Richmond
Fraser Hwy
3
Langley
200th St
2
Delta
204th St
1
0
6
0
500
U.S.
m
KM
THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: TILEZEN; OPENSTREETMAP CONTRIBUTORS; RCMP; CBC
At about 3 a.m., a man was shot dead at the Creek Stone Place supportive housing project. Two hours later, another man was killed at the Langley Centre bus loop.
At 5:45 a.m., Langley RCMP and members of the Lower Mainland Emergency Response Team located the suspect near the Langley Bypass and shot him dead. Another victim was located nearby with a gunshot wound to his leg.
At around 6:20 a.m. – more than six hours after the first shooting – residents in the region were awoken by a direct-to-cellphone alert warning of “multiple shooting scenes in the downtown core in the City of Langley, with one incident in Langley Township involving transient victims.”
The alert said police “have interaction” with a suspect, described as a white male with dark hair, wearing brown coveralls and a blue and green camouflage T-shirt with a red logo on the right sleeve. He was associated with a white vehicle, the alert said.
A second alert was issued one hour later, saying the suspect was “no longer a threat.”
Langley is located about 50 kilometres southeast of Vancouver.
Police have identified the victims but would not release their names as families are still being notified, he said.
“This is an unfolding event and very early in the investigation right now,” Sgt. Lee said. “It is still too early to discuss motive.”
Chief Superintendent Ghalib Bhayani, the assistant district commander for B.C.’s Lower Mainland region, said police issued the cellphone alert because it met certain criteria: There was a reasonable belief that an active threat presented a significant risk of serious harm to the public; the situation was evolving quickly and presented a challenge to police response; and there was sufficient information about the threat and its location to provide direction to the public.
Chief Supt. Bhayani said the alert was specific to the areas where there could potentially be risk to public safety.
“Some folks outside of Langley are calling, asking why did the alert come to us in Burnaby, or other jurisdictions,” he said. “People do drive into work, into Langley, in the morning, and the investigation was still ongoing. We were not completely satisfied that public safety – that we had that piece yet.”
Monday’s incident was only the second in which B.C. RCMP used the cellphone alert, Chief Supt. Bhayani said. Last November, police also issued such an alert to warn of an active shooter in Vanderhoof. The notification was also used in March warning of an interprovincial Amber Alert.
In the Willowbrook Mall parking lot, near the Langley Bypass, a black police SUV was seen with what appeared to be nine bullet holes in the windshield and one in the driver’s side window. On the sidewalk, a bicycle lay on its side, with a number of personal belongings spilling out of a crate. A bloodied shoe and some clothing was seen in the middle of the road. At Cascades Casino, yellow police tape cordoned off an area around a shopping cart containing a number of items.
Earlier Monday, Langley RCMP Sergeant Rebecca Parslow told The Globe and Mail at least two victims were thought to be homeless.
Pastor Ward Draper, who works with members of the homeless population in B.C., said details are sparse but if people experiencing homelessness were the target of the early morning shooting, then it is a “horrendous example” of the vulnerability of this group.
“To specifically target these communities, to the best of our knowledge, is a horrible reflection of where our society, in general, is these days with an increase of violence. It’s a scary, scary reality right now,” Mr. Draper said.
He said the event points to underlying social problems but would not go so far as to say it speaks to people’s perceptions of the homeless community. The B.C. pastor said what is needed now is more compassion, especially toward the growing population of unhoused individuals.
“The only way anybody ever recovers from hurt like this – or fear, anxiety, trauma, whatever word you want to use, suffering – is through a healthy support network community. That’s the science, right? You need a loving environment to heal,” he said.
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