DRUG TURF WAR FEARED

Burnaby Man Dies In Fourth Shooting In Four Days

Four shootings in four days have Vancouver police fearing more
violence in an escalating drug turf war.

A 32-year-old Burnaby man is the latest to die, gunned down on the
west side at about 9:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Two men were shot and injured early Saturday in downtown Vancouver,
while a fourth was fatally shot last Thursday, also on Vancouver's
west side.

All four are known to police, who say they're getting no co-operation
from the two injured men.

"We get very concerned when we see these tit-for-tat shootings,"
Deputy Chief Doug

LePard said yesterday. "We know that some of the people are involved
with opposing gangs."

Miguel Rodriguez, 33, of Vancouver, was shot to death Thursday at 33rd
Avenue and Arbutus while driving his BMW M5.

The two injured men were shot Saturday morning while leaving an
after-hours club in the 600-block Smithe Street. One, aged 24, was
shot in the head and is in critical condition. A fourth man, aged 22,
was not seriously hurt. The latest victim, a 32-year-old Burnaby man
who has not yet been identified, was gunned down at about 9:30 p.m.
Sunday in the 1900-block First Avenue, near Kitsilano Beach.

"In this area -- oh, my God!" Diane Olsen said yesterday as she walked
by the murder scene on her way to the dentist.

"That's a little scary. That's unusual for this area of town. I didn't
know they were selling drugs here."

Mistelle Evans nonchalantly pushed her nine-month-old baby in a
stroller past the murder scene as civic workers cleaned up the
aftermath where the man was shot near a vehicle.

"It's scary, I just live in the next block," said Evans. "Oh, my
God."

LePard said police are being proactive in trying to stop the turf
war.

"We actually will speak directly with gang members, and keep a close
eye on gang members and seize their weapons," he said.

"We are certainly very concerned when we see the number of bullets
flying around, especially in an area where we're not used to seeing
them.

"We're very concerned about the possibility of innocent bystanders
being hit by a stray bullet." LePard said Vancouver has murder spikes
when newcomers try to move in on turf controlled by rival groups.

"We do have organized gangs that are fighting for drug turf," he
said.

"We have had incidents where innocent victims have been
killed.

"There is a concern it could spill over to ordinary citizens, as it
has in the past with homicide victims Rachel Davis, Richard Hui and
Lee Matasi."

LePard said criminals accept constant danger as a way of life in the
high-risk, high-stakes world of drug dealing.

"That is part of the criminal life," he said, "the risk of being
murdered."

- - Police have identified a man shot to death in Mission on Sunday
afternoon as Timothy Vernon Jones, 28, of Mission. RCMP were called to
the 7400-block Murray Street after several people heard what sounded
like a gunshot.

Police are interested in hearing from two women who were seen talking
with Jones shortly before his murder. Police are also on the trail of
a dark-coloured SUV that was seen speeding away from the scene at the
time a shot rang out.