GANG HIT, OR FATAL GROW-RIP?

Police Weigh Both As Motives For Fatal Townhouse Shooting In
Coquitlam, And Mysterious Death Of Surrey Man

Homicide investigators are trying to determine whether gangs or drugs
were involved in separate incidents that left two people dead and one wounded.

In Coquitlam, one man was shot dead and another seriously injured in
a shooting at a townhouse complex with a history of marijuana grow-op busts.

In Surrey, a man was found dead in a home with a medium-sized
grow-op, and police say he may have been the victim of a grow-rip.

"Certainly we are looking at that angle [a fatal grow-rip]," said
Cpl. Dale Carr of the Integrated Homicide Investigation team.

A man who lives next door to where the man's body was found in
Coquitlam said yesterday he heard about 10 gunshots around 9:30 p.m.
Monday at the Crescentview townhouse complex in Coquitlam.

After the shooting the neighbour, who didn't want to be named, said
everything went quiet. Then, a few minutes later, police arrived with
guns drawn and told everyone to go back inside.

Carr said it's too early to say for certain whether the shootings
were "gang-or drug-related."

Crescentview, however, has a history of drug problems.

In a single month two years ago, Coquitlam RCMP busted 28 marijuana
grow-ops in the 80-unit complex, netting a total of 2,181 plants.

Ashley Deon has been a Crescentview resident for 23 of her 25 years.
She said there have been at least 60 managers in that time.

"They keep letting these people in that do this," she said.

Deon, who lives in a part of the complex overlooking Monday's crime
scene, said she wasn't surprised to hear someone had been shot.

Since a major grow-op bust in 2005, things have gone downhill, she said.

Coquitlam RCMP were called to the Cape Horn Avenue townhouse complex
Monday night after receiving a call about a man suffering from
multiple gunshot wounds.

The injured man was taken to hospital. Meanwhile, officers and police
dogs searched the area, finding the body of a man behind a nearby townhouse.

Police say the dead man was in his early 20s. The injured man remains
in hospital.

The man who lives next door to the crime scene described the victim
as Caucasian and "a pretty big guy" -- tall and heavy.

He said the man had been shot in the back or abdomen -- there was
blood on both sides of his body.

He said the man was wearing gloves.

The dead man didn't look familiar, said the neighbour, adding:
"Pretty much everyone around here knows everyone."

The row of townhouses behind which the man was found has been vacant
for about a year.

A complex resident said the area has been "nice and quiet" recently.

"It's been nice, the kids outside playing," he said. "This was a shock."

Meanwhile, police yesterday identified a man whose body was found
inside a Surrey house with a "modest" sized grow-op.

Michael Gerald Larson, 37, was living in the home in the 15600-block
of 48th Avenue where his body was found by a friend Saturday morning.

Police would not release the cause of death. An autopsy was performed
yesterday but police said they were still awaiting the results.

Carr said Larson was "known to police in his earlier years [but] it's
not like he was showing up on our radar here."

He said investigators are still probing whether Larson had any gang
involvement.