LAST week in Rattan’s Rumble piece titled “Expect shootings to continue day and night in Surrey!” this newspaper had warned that “there’s really little the cops can do to end the crazy series of shootings – apparently by low-level drug dealers trying to intimidate or take out one another – that seem to have become a hallmark of B.C.’s second largest city in recent weeks in particular.”

Simon Fraser University’s well-known criminologist Dr. Robert Gordon told The VOICE that “the fact of the matter is that they are just not dealing with the crime issue in Surrey as a regional problem – they are dealing with it on a parochial basis and so long as they do that – we don’t have unity among police services across Metro – this sort of stuff will continue.”

We also noted: “As The VOICE has been pointing out for many years now, quoting experts such as Gordon and former solicitor general Kash Heed, unless we have a unified Metro Vancouver police force from West Vancouver to Abbotsford, it will be impossible to deal effectively with such incidents. So-called integrated task forces are no substitute for a SINGLE police force like the one they have in Toronto.”

There were shootings on March 26, March 28 and April 1.

The latest took place on Friday (April 10) at the Surrey-Delta border.

At approximately 5 a.m., Surrey RCMP received a report of shots fired at a residence in the 117-block of 96^th Avenue. Police located evidence consistent with shots being fired at a home in that area. No injuries were reported.

Police are looking for a silver import, possibly a Honda Civic type vehicle, which was seen fleeing the area at the time. This investigation is in its early stages, however, and officers are still trying to determine whether this incident is targeted. The occupants of the home are not known to police.

The house is at the corner of 117B Avenue and 96^th Street with a store in the front of the house.

A woman living nearby told The VOICE that she heard four shots fired. A short while later someone started knocking loudly on her door. She said she was so afraid that she pounded back on the door. Only when someone said they were the police, did she open the door.

She said the police recovered four casings. The shots hit a window that appeared to be fortified as the bullets did not penetrate the glass (see photos).

Anyone with further information is asked to contact the Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or www.solvecrime.ca.

MEANWHILE, neighbouring Delta has been having its own problem of shootings.

Last Sunday (April 5), there were two shooting incidents, one at 5:47 p.m. and the other at 9 p.m.

Police first received reports of shots fired in the 11500-block of 79 Avenue. They recovered evidence that shots were fired; however, there was no evidence of injuries or property damage. A silver Toyota was reported to have been seen leaving the area following the shooting.

Then shortly after 9 p.m. police responded to reports of shots fired at a residence in the area of 8300-block of 110 Street. Police said this residence has been targeted previously and was not occupied at the time of this shooting. Police believe the intended target of this shooting is a male, known to police, who has not resided in this area for some time.

Delta Police continue to investigate these recent shootings and identify links between other related incidents. Police urge anyone with information related to these incidents or other incidents to contact them or CrimeStoppers.