Targeted double shooting in East Vancouver costs pregnant woman her baby
31-year-old Vancouver woman, 23-year-old Langley man shot early Friday morning
A 31-year-old Vancouver woman is in critical condition after losing her baby in a targeted double shooting in East Vancouver early Friday morning.
According to a release from Vancouver Police, an unidentified suspect entered the woman's home on Industrial Avenue near Scotia Street and shot her just before 6 a.m. She was in the third trimester of her pregnancy.
The victim called 9-1-1 to report that she had been shot and the suspect had left.
Officers arrived on scene minutes later to discover a 23-year-old Langley man in the same apartment had also been shot.
He suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
"It's still very early in the investigation, but initial information leads us to believe this was a targeted shooting, unrelated to gang conflict," VPD's Const. Jason Doucette said.
Witness describes chaotic scene
According to Jeff Grayston, owner of East Van Printing, the shooting took place in the business's electrical room, which has a mattress so employees can crash if they need to.
He said the woman had been staying at the shop for about a week and the male victim was her new boyfriend and an employee at the print shop.
Grayston said he knew the woman had been staying in the shop for the past week or so.
He has since learned from other employees that she was staying there because of concerns for her safety and did not feel safe at home.
Grayston said he was in an upstairs apartment at the back of the shop at the time.
He says he heard a commotion and came downstairs to find the female victim wounded but awake.
The shop was running at the time and two other employees were there, he said. After the shooting, one employee physically attacked the shooter before he fled.
"She hounded him until he left," Grayston recounted. "She could've stopped it from being a lot worse."
Detectives from the VPD's Major Crime Section are asking anyone with information about this shooting — or who was in the area around the time of the incident — to call them at 604-717-2541 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
With files from Susana da Silva