Two dead after all-night shooting rampage
Published:Wednesday | July 27, 2022 | 12:11 AM
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP):
A gunman who roamed for hours through a sleeping Vancouver suburb shot four people early Monday, two of them fatally, as he opened fire at a casino, a centre for the homeless, and other locations before being killed by police, authorities said.
The attacks began in the wee hours in the bedroom community of Langley and continued until dawn, according to authorities, who initially suggested the shootings had targeted homeless people.
The first shooting occurred at midnight at the casino, with more shootings at 3 a.m., 5 a.m. and 5:45 a.m. – including at a residential complex that provides support for people who are transitioning out of homelessness. The other shooting scenes were a bus stop and a highway, police said.
Evidence of the all-night rampage was scattered around Langley, including an overturned bicycle spilling personal possessions on to a street and a shopping cart with someone’s belongings.
Police sent a cell phone alert to residents at 6:20 a.m., saying they were at the scene of several shootings “involving transient victims”, describing the gunman and asking people to “please remain alert and out of the area”.
But by then, the gunman was already dead. Sgt David Lee, a spokesman for homicide investigators, later told reporters that it was not yet clear if the victims were homeless.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said an emergency response team confronted the suspect not far from a highway bypass where a man was found with a gunshot to his leg.
That’s when officers fatally shot the gunman, said Ghalib Bhayani, superintendent of the mounted police.
Police later identified the shooter as Jordan Daniel Goggin, 28, of Surrey, British Columbia. They are investigating the motive.
Authorities did not know if the shooter and his victims were acquainted, Bhayani said.
He told reporters that the suspect’s death is subject to an investigation by the Independent Investigations Office of British Columbia, a civilian-led police oversight agency.