Surrey mall shooting was case of mistaken identity: victim's mother
RCMP say man who was gunned down had ties to site of 2007 Surrey slaying
The grieving mother of the man who was gunned down Tuesday in the parking lot of a Surrey, B.C., mall says her son had no gang connections and was a victim of mistaken identity.
Multiple shots were fired at the parked, white SUV in which Raphael Baldini was sitting outside Guildford Town Centre shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday. Attempts to revive Baldini failed, and he later died in hospital.
His mother, Cindy, told CBC News on Wednesday he was using a friend's vehicle at the time and the gunfire would not have been targeted at him.
"[He's] sitting in somebody's car outside of a mall waiting for friends, talking to his friend on the phone, and all he said was, 'Oh my God,' " she said.
Earlier Wednesday, the RCMP said Baldini had links to the site of one of the worst unsolved gang slayings in B.C. history, which occurred 1½ years ago.
Cpl. Dale Carr of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said Baldini rented the Surrey apartment where six men were shot dead in October 2007.
But Cindy Baldini said her son, 21, had moved out of and sublet the unit eight months before the slayings occurred.
Carr said it nevertheless appears Baldini was killed in deliberate hit, and investigators continue to look for other links.
"It does look like it was targeted at that specific individual," Carr said.
"It's easy for police to say that because he's gone. He's gone, but I'm here to defend my son's name," Cindy Baldini replied.
Baldini had just appeared in court on Tuesday morning to face charges of assault and uttering threats. He had a criminal record dating back to 2005 for a variety of offences.
Slaying of 6 in Surrey unsolved
The killing of the six men in the Surrey apartment in October 2007 remains unsolved.
Police have said four of the men killed were involved in the drug trade and had links to the Red Scorpion gang.
But police said two of the victims, Chris Mohan and Abbotsford gas fitter Ed Schellenburg, were innocent men in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Chris Mohan lived across the hall from Baldini's apartment with his mother, Eileen Mohan. She told CBC News on Tuesday that Baldini was always very quiet and polite when she ran in to him in the hallway, and she was disappointed to hear of his death.
"I'm really disappointed, because I was hoping that maybe one day I could see him face to face and get to question him," she told CBC News.
She said she believes Baldini was killed because he knew who was responsible for the slayings of the six men.