Surrey RCMP serious crimes officers are investigating yet another shooting this month, after a 35-year-old man knocked on the door of a rural South Surrey home Wednesday night looking for help.
The 35-year-old North Surrey resident was "dropped off" near the house – in the 3700-block of 184 Street – around 11 p.m. Jan. 4, Cpl. Drew Grainger confirmed Friday. He had been shot in the leg, just below the knee.
While the victim has been released from hospital and is expected to make a full recovery, Grainger said he has been of little help to investigators working to determine what led to the incident and who is responsible.
"We're getting limited co-operation from the victim, and we're getting conflicting information. We haven't had the ability to confirm how this all unfolded yet."
The incident is the latest in a rash of shootings that have occurred across Surrey since Christmas Eve, three of which have been fatal. Late Jan. 3, a 31-year-old man was shot in the back – a non-lethal wound – during an altercation at a Panorama Ridge home. On Dec. 29, a 55-year-old man was found seriously beaten in a minivan parked in the 9500-block of 139 Street; Apollo-Lyn Simpson, 28, was fatally gunned down in the 9500-block of 125 Street Dec. 27; a 54-year-old woman was shot in the chest at a Whalley apartment Dec. 26; grocery store clerk Alok Gupta, a 27-year-old Kwantlen business student, was fatally shot Dec. 25 in the 11700-block of 96 Avenue; and Bradley McPherson, 28, was fatally shot while at a Christmas Eve party in the 13100-block of 67A Avenue.
But while Grainger agreed the run gives the perception violent crime is on the rise, he said the incidence of gun-related crimes is actually "significantly down."
"There's a spate of them for sure, but overall our numbers are down," he said. "When we see these things, we see them happen in waves, it seems. We have just apparently experienced another one of those waves… another unfortunate surge."
None of the recent shootings are related, and there have been no arrests in any of the investigations to date, he said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502.