GANG VIOLENCE TOP STORY FOR 2008

Gang violence was thrust into the spotlight in 2008 by a series of
shootings, murders and assaults.

The year kicked off with a bang with three gang-related shooting on
Jan. 2 and Jan. 3 at Victoria Street, Lasalle Crescent and Norwood
Street. A 20-year-old Prince George man was seriously injured in the
second shooting.

The victim was well-known to police and suspected to be involved in
the drug.

Police arrested two alleged gunmen in the shooting and were forced to
fire on a suspect after he pointed a shotgun at officers.

The house targeted in the third shooting contained 12 live marijuana
plants and several kilograms of processed marijuana.

On Jan. 24, Guy Mitchell Henry, 21, of Prince George was fatally shot
outside a popular restaurant on East Central Street just after 3:45
p.m.

Henry's mother, Diane Henry, made an impassioned plea for anyone who
knew something to come forward with information.

"It was most definitely gang-related - it was a set up. (But) my boy
was a beautiful boy," Henry said. "It's alright to be afraid, (but)
please come forward. This could have been you."

On Feb. 4 a 19-year-old man was rushed to hospital with
non-life-threatening gunshot wounds. The victim was in his home on
Quince Street when the shooting occurred.

On March 1 at approximately 12:30 a.m. shots were fired at Joe's
Place, a strip club on Second Avenue. No one was injured in the
shooting, which was linked to gang activity.

On April 20, a 24-year-old man was shot in the neck and rushed to
hospital for emergency surgery. The victim's home on Quince Street was
believed by police to be a crack shack, but no drugs were found inside
at the time.

On July 30, police arrived at a home in the 2200 block of Norwood
Street after receiving multiple complaints about the residents running
a crack shack. Officers found a man handcuffed and shackled in the
basement, calling for help. He had been beaten, held captive and
tortured for a $100 drug debt.

Bystanders were forced to run for cover when gunmen opened fire at a
vehicle at Fifth Avenue and Dominion Street about 5:45 p.m. on Aug.
6.

A 19-year-old man in the vehicle was left in serious condition with
multiple gunshot wounds.

That night, police arrested Fabian Charlie, 23, Jesse Bird, 26, and
Eric West, 28, and charged them with attempted murder in connection
with the incident.

RCMP serious crimes task force leader Sgt. Raj Sidhu said the victims
were believed to be part of a group of Independent Soldiers who split
with the gang after a brawl outside Pine Centre Mall on Christmas Eve,
2007.

The arrests didn't take the leadership of the Independent Soldiers off
the streets, he said.

The Independent Soldiers are a loose-knit organization which deals
primarily in cocaine and crack cocaine. It involves men, women and
young offenders.

A 28-year-old man was shot five times early on Sept. 23 in the
Lombardy Mobile Home Park on Norwood Street. The man survived his
gunshot wounds to his stomach and elbow.

Neighbour Rita Fraser lives one trailer away and was awake when she
heard the gunshots.

"I live alone here by myself and I was really, really scared," Fraser
said. "All I could do was lay down, because I was so scared. I didn't
know where to go in the trailer or what to do."

On Oct. 7, police found Brittany Joan Giese, 19, and Garett John
McComb, 23, dead inside a house at 2347 Webber Cres. Both victims were
Prince George residents and known to police.

In addition, on Sept. 12 Prince George RCMP raided the home, seized
three handguns and arrested five people.

Police believe the murders were targeted killings related to an
ongoing gang conflict in the city, Cst. Gary Godwin said.

On Oct. 12, the RCMP bomb squad was called out to deal with a bomb
thrown through the window of G'z Up Clothing and Apparel in the
400-block of Dominion Street. No one was in the store when the bomb
was thrown and the device failed to explode.

The building was one of those damaged during the Aug. 6 drive-by
shooting.