B.C. BESET BY TARGETED KILLINGS

Young Men Hunted, Assassinated In Wanton Gunplay

Gang violence is nothing new in Greater Vancouver and British
Columbia's Lower Mainland. But a bloody streak of drive-by shootings
and mob-style murders has residents on edge, thanks to the nature of
the incidents and their frequency and to the relative youth of those
allegedly involved. Their methods are careless, their disregard for
others something to fear.

They are young men, driving armour-plated cars and wearing flak
jackets. Some deal in automatic weapons. Some still live at home with
mom and dad.

They dodge machine gun fire, run from bullets fired by rivals in the
streets, in strip-mall parking lots, outside convenience stores. A
few can't run fast enough. If they don't end up in prison, they might
wind up dead.

Four homicides were reported in the Vancouver area last week, and two
more since Sunday. All of them involved guns. The victims appear to
have been targeted. Four were men in their twenties. Two were linked
to the Red Scorpions, a gang formed by juvenile delinquents a decade
ago and now resurgent.

Gang observers believe the shootings are related, tit-for-tat revenge
episodes involving rival outfits. Perpetrators may be motivated by a
turf battle, a soured drug deal or theft, even a perceived slight.
Whatever the reason, young men are being hunted down and assassinated.

The province responded yesterday with a series of proposed measures
aimed at tackling guns and toughening prosecutions by throwing in an
extra 168 police officers and 10 Crown lawyers to deal with the
escalating gun violence. What the proposals don't address directly
are the perpetrators themselves.

Their backgrounds and profiles can look remarkably similar. Few
footsteps come between them.

James Ward Erickson, 25, was shot to death inside a Surrey apartment
building on Feb. 2. Police raided the same building in December,
seizing a machine gun and arresting a 21-year-old man.

Red Scorpion associate Raphael Baldini, 21, was found dead inside his
white Range Rover the next day. Baldini had rented the same apartment
in Surrey in which six men were killed two years ago. That crime
remains unsolved.

Later last week, Red Scorpion associate Kevin LeClair, 26, was
driving a grey Lincoln Mark LT truck when assailants chased him into
a grocery parking lot. They opened fire. One used a machine gun,
witnesses said. The parking lot filled with smoke. Mr. LeClair died later.

A 28-year-old United Nations gang member was murdered on Sunday,
outside a Vancouver grocery store. On Wednesday, shots were fired at
a black pickup truck. Police arrived too late; the vehicle was found
abandoned. That night, an unidentified man was killed inside a
Vancouver house, in what police say appeared to be another targeted event.

On Thursday, gunfire was exchanged on a busy street in suburban Port Coquitlam.

No charges have been laid with respect to any of these incidents.

Red Scorpion associate Steven Porsch probably feels safer in prison,
where he's serving a 16-year sentence for myriad convictions,
including arson, assault causing bodily harm and conspiracy to traffic weapons.

These are just the barest, sanitized details; court documents reveal
the extent to which Porsch was involved in violent crime and gang
warfare. The documents also say much about B. C.'s changing criminal
underworld, and those who now epitomize it.

Four years ago, Porsch lived at home in Abbotsford, less than an
hour's drive east of Vancouver. He was 20 years old, and in the arms
trade. He sold machine guns, submachine guns, semi-automatic pistols,
anything his clients wanted.

He didn't know his clients were police officers, working undercover.

At the time, Porsch was under investigation for other crimes. In
2004, he had hired another man, a drug addict named Shaun Fitzgerald,
to commit a string of arsons on local businesses. The fires caused
more than $9-million in damage, and financially ruined the Abbotsford
family that owned the businesses.

In November, 2005, while under police investigation, Porsch "decided
to teach [an associate] as lesson for stealing 1 ounces of drugs,"
according to court records. Porsch beat the man "and attempted to cut
off part of his left pinkie finger with a pair of scissors." Porsch
later joked about the attempt to an undercover officer.

He asked the undercover operative if he was interested in purchasing
guns. Over a period of six months, he sold officers 40 firearms,
including six fully automatic .303 calibre Bren submachine guns, 10
fully automatic 9mm Sten sub-machine guns, five semi-automatic Smith
and Wesson pistols, and two semi-automatic Beretta pistols. Nine
silencers and dozens of rounds of ammunition were also sold. Police
paid Porsch a total of $138,400. The money was never recovered.

His mother described Porsch in a letter of support as the "perfect"
son, and as "a role model for youth to emulate." B. C. Supreme Court
Justice Janice Dillon rejected these fanciful notions in her reasons
for sentencing, noting that "there is a gap between perception and
reality within the [Porsch] family ... He ran

his own circle of drug pushers and enjoyed the reputation that he
carefully built...He pays others to work for him in prison."

Even Porsch described himself as a "criminal entrepreneur." He had
not had legitimate employment since graduating from high school in
2003, choosing instead to peddle weapons and drugs, and to steal.

Between committing other crimes in 2005, Porsch robbed an Abbotsford
marijuana grower. Assisting him was a 19-year-old former high school
wrestler named Jamie Bacon. A 9mm semi-automatic pistol was used to
commit the crime. Both men were prosecuted for the robbery and both
pleaded guilty in 2007.

It was young Bacon's first criminal conviction, and the court treated
him lightly. He received a prison sentence of three years; with
credit given for time already served, he was soon back on the streets
of Abbotsford.

Jamie lives with his mother, father and older brother Jarrod, 25, on
a quiet cul-de-sac in Abbotsford.

The two young men are notorious for alleged crimes, and for alleged
gang ties. Jarrod was charged with attempted murder in 2004, but when
the alleged victim refused to testify, the charge was stayed.

Neighbours aren't happy about the Bacons' presence, but there's
nothing they can do except be vigilant. Jamie and Jarrod were
arrested again in May, on two dozen combined weapons charges, but
they made bail after agreeing to certain conditions. One was that
they live at home, until they are tried in court.

Police have mounted video surveillance cameras outside the Bacon
home, so that they might monitor the brothers' activities. They have
also warned the public to avoid them.

Someone is after the Bacons, and there is a danger that a bystander
will be caught in crossfire. On more than one occasion, bullets have
flown outside the Bacon house.

A driveway shooting in 2006 wounded their older brother, Jonathan,
now 28. Three weeks ago, Jamie Bacon was seen driving his leased
black Mercedes SL55 coupe in downtown Abbotsford. Another vehicle
pulled up next to his. Shots were fired.

Jamie Bacon survived the shooting; he was wearing body armour, now
requisite, it seems, for young Vancouver-area criminals. And
Vancouver Sun crime reporter Kim Bolan recently discovered that the
Bacon brothers ship their cars to Toronto for bulletproofing. That
hasn't made them less vulnerable.

Police issued another public warning last week, warning that
investigators have "learned there are plans to murder Jarrod, Jamie
and Jonathan Bacon." That was followed on Thursday by a warning to
steer clear of another Red Scorpion and Bacon brother associate,
Dennis Karbovanec; he survived an assassination attempt on New Year's Eve.

The warnings are unusual, and the information is welcome. But no one
feels more secure.