VANCOUVER -- Mounties in Nanaimo are launching what they call a "massive video surveillance canvass" in hopes of furthering their investigation into a fatal daylight shooting in a shopping centre parking lot Thursday afternoon.
Police are looking for information on a pearl-white 2003 Cadillac Escalade that was believed to be in the city a few days prior to the shooting, according to a news release from Nanaimo RCMP.
Officers were called to the Rock City Centre shopping plaza around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday for reports of a shooting.
When they arrived, they found a man who had been shot to death in a vehicle in the parking lot.
A source told CTV News Vancouver Island on Thursday that the shooting was likely targeted and gang-related. On Saturday, police shared that information publicly for the first time.
“We believe this event has a nexus to the ongoing gang-conflict and violence currently plaguing a number of Lower Mainland communities,” said Acting Insp. Donovan Tait of the Nanaimo RCMP, in the news release.
Three people with ties to the Lower Mainland were arrested at a Best Western hotel after the shooting on Thursday. They have since been released pending further investigation, police said.
In addition to appealing for video, investigators are still hoping to speak with additional witnesses who were in Rock City Plaza at the time of the shooting.
Police said they are specifically looking to hear from a white woman who was seen walking toward Jumping Jiminy’s Playground & Café around the time of the incident.
“We would like to express our sincere thanks to those alert citizens who contacted police in a timely fashion, providing valuable information to our investigators as this event unfolded, resulting in the arrests made,” said Tait.
“These witness reports had a direct impact on our ability to take these individuals into custody quickly and safely," Tait added. "We have received great cooperation from many in the public contacting us with additional information helping us fill in some gaps, but we do need more.”
