FEARS OF GANG VIOLENCE GROW

Summer of Retaliation Feared after Known Gang Enforcer Shot In Nightclub
Parking Lot: Parking Lot Death Is Second Shooting in Two Days

Thursday's killing of a drug dealer and gang enforcer outside a south-side
nightclub has city police fearing another summer of escalating violence.

A 19-year-old man was found sprawled in the lot of The Drink nightclub,
2940 Calgary Trail S., about 20 blocks from the karaoke bar where three
Asian men were shot and wounded just before midnight Tuesday. City police
are investigating whether the killing might be a retaliation for Tuesday's
shooting.

The dead man is identified as David Phan, of no fixed address.

A loaded assault rifle, believed to belong to him, was found by his side,
said police information officer Annette Bidniak. "You don't walk around
with an assault rifle and not intend to do something bad. We just don't
know why he was there. Perhaps he was looking for someone else and they got
to him first."

She said police are concerned about an escalation to the violence and "want
to put a stop to it."

As far as motivation in Edmonton's ninth homicide, Bidniak said, the
motives "go from anywhere from a snub to a drug deal gone bad or some sort
of affront in the criminal world."

Police worry innocent bystanders might be hurt or killed.

"These individuals don't care about the possibility that they're going to
hurt innocent bystanders. That's our major concern. Although no violence is
acceptable, in our estimation it's far worse when they put people's lives
and safety at risk," said Bidniak.

When police and paramedics arrived to help the victim, he began fighting
with them and was unco-operative, she said.

Phan was rushed to University of Alberta Hospital with a wound to the
abdomen, but died shortly after arriving in emergency.

Officers received sketchy details about what happened in the parking lot,
said Bidniak. "There were a few people who were either sitting in their
cars or standing in the lot when several shots were fired and they ducked."

Three suspicious vehicles were seen in the area. Investigators are
interested in a newer model black Toyota Corolla, which was seen speeding
away. Investigators aren't sure whether the vehicle might belong to the
suspects or the victim's friends.

Dave Urner, managing partner and general manager of The Drink, said the
victim had not been in the bar.

About a dozen officers, including homicide detectives and a couple of
officers investigating Tuesday's karaoke shooting, are probing the killing,
she said.

The three victims from Tuesday's shooting at Now & Us Karaoke bar near 39th
Avenue and 99th Street remain unco-operative with investigators, she said.

The victim in Thursday's killing has been criminally active in the Edmonton
area for more than two years, she said. Police implicated him in an
attempted murder after a machete attack about 18 months ago. Although he
was charged, the charges were later dropped.

He'd also been previously charged with trafficking in cocaine and
marijuana, said Bidniak. "Investigators know him well. He's known to them
through drug dealing activities, and he's known to be an enforcer in that
gang arena. An enforcer typically is one who carries out violence on other
groups or other people at the bidding of the gang."

Tests are being done on the assault rifle to find out whether it was fired
or had been modified to an automatic.

James Dubro, author of an early 1990s book Dragons of Crime, agreed that
the violence can touch innocent people.

Pointing to an outbreak of gang warfare in his hometown of Toronto between
1991 and 1992, he said about 10 people were killed including some citizens
caught in the crossfire. "It's a real serious problem. These younger guys
aren't careful because they use heavy weapons and aren't very cautious."

He suspects that if it's some kind of escalating problem there will be
retaliation within a week. "They operate on a different system than most
companies. You settle scores by shooting or killing."

SUMMER CRIMES

- - July 4, 1996 -- A power struggle erupts between two racial gangs, the
Blacks and the Browns. Leslie Raymond, 18, who's black, is shot five times
while walking across a parking lot at Southgate Mall.

- - Summer 1999 -- A feud between two Asian gangs for control of Edmonton's
drug trade is blamed for an outbreak of drive-by shootings and violence on
city streets.

- - Aug. 18, 1999 -- Veteran drug dealer, Hai Van Tran, 18, is killed in a
drive-by shooter while stopped at a red light near Telus Field.

- - Sept. 1, 1999 -- The bullet-riddled body of 19-year-old Stephen William
Johnson, a known associate of an Asian gang, is found in a field near
Darwell, about 80 kilometres west of Edmonton.

- - Summer 2000 -- Gang violence erupts in the south end, with about a dozen
drive-by shootings and firebombings in Mill Woods, Riverbend and
Callingwood. No one is injured.

- - Sept. 30, 2000 -- John Paul Arruda is stabbed to death on Whyte Avenue by
gang members who mistake him for their intended target. Two brothers were
sentenced on Wednesday to 11 years in jail while another man received 5 1/2
years for the killing.