MORE GANG SHOOTOUTS FEARED

Three Injured: Expert Says Feuding Parties Still Have Scores To
Settle

A shootout in a Richmond park last week is believed to be the
beginning of vengeful score-settling over long-standing feuds between
gangs in the Lower Mainland.

A police source has told The Province that several groups in the Lower
Mainland are currently hunting each other down over a number of prior
incidents, a development that could lead to more violence in public
places.

The gunfire at Richmond's Dover Park last Thursday left three young
men in their late 20s to early 30s seriously wounded. Some witnesses
described hearing as many as 20 to 30 shots and bullets hit multiple
homes.

The Province's source -- not one of the people named in this story --
said the victims are involved in drug-related gangs and are well-known
to police.

The source, knowledgeable in Lower Mainland gang activity, said the
victims are Iranian but the gangs include a variety of ethnic
backgrounds.

"These gangs are all multi-ethnic now. Even though the victims are
[Iranian], they associate with whoever will sell their product," said
the source. "They base themselves more on people they trust than
someone from their own race. And the people they trust are their
buddies, people they've gone to high school with who are all of
different ethnicities."

The long-standing feuds between the multi-ethnic gangs are often not
just about drugs, but also pride, face and ego, the source added.

Richmond RCMP said it was only "by the grace of God" that residents
around Dover Park weren't injured in one of the city's most brazen
shootings.

"The people who were in this park [Thursday] night have absolutely no
regard for public safety," said Richmond RCMP spokesman Cpl. Peter
Thiessen.

All three victims are expected to survive.

Police would not comment on the motive of the targeted hit, the
suspected number of gunmen involved or what weapons have been recovered.

The incident began just after 7:30 p.m. when residents of the normally
quiet neighbourhood heard shots rattle through the park near the
intersection of Lynas Lane and Westminster Highway.

Resident Sofia Longo, who was in an underground parking lot when she
heard the gunfire, said when she reached ground level, she saw two
cars dart west and a white SUV dash eastbound.

Two of the victims drove themselves to nearby Richmond General
Hospital. One man, who was later seen being led from the hospital in
handcuffs, is no longer in police custody, said Thiessen.

This is not the first time residents of Dover Crescent have been
rattled by gunfire.

Longo recalls it was less than two years ago that Mounties showed up
in the condo building next door to investigate another targeted hit.

In March 2005, accused murderer Mark Thrower, 37, was shot "execution
style" in the hallway outside of his fourth-floor condo at 5880 Dover
Cres.

The former football hero at Steveston High was slain the day before
his trial was scheduled to begin in B.C. Supreme Court. Thrower was
charged with the murder of a Lotus gang member, Raymond Man Yuen Chan,
whose body was dumped behind the Richmond provincial courthouse in
2003.

Yesterday, more than 36 hours after the shootout, yellow police tape
remained strung around the residential complex that surrounds Dover
Park. Police spent much of Friday raking through the park for evidence.

The RCMP's integrated gang squad and Vancouver police are assisting
Richmond Mounties in the investigation.