Victim of Kitsilano shooting identified as Manoj Kumar
Kumar 'does not have any obvious connections to a criminal lifestyle,' say police
Vancouver police have identified the victim of Tuesday night's shooting in Kitsilano as 30-year-old Vancouver resident Manoj Kumar.
Police were called to the scene, along busy Burrard Street between West 4th and 5th avenues, after a number of people phoned 911 around 8:30 p.m. PT.
Kumar was shot inside a silver car parked near a restaurant. He died at the scene, marking the city's fourth homicide of 2019.
Police said in a written statement that Kumar was not known to police and "does not have any obvious connections to a criminal lifestyle."
Vancouver police Const. Jason Doucette told reporters the shooting "appears to have all the hallmarks of a targeted shooting."
"One vehicle in a busy area, one person in a vehicle, a number of shots fired directly into that vehicle."
Doucette said witnesses reported seeing a vehicle flee the area after shots were fired. Around midnight, Vancouver firefighters told police an SUV had been found in flames on West 22nd Avenue near Arbutus Street — a little more than two kilometres south of the shooting scene.
The vehicle has not been directly linked to the shooting, but officers have seized it pending further investigation.
Vancouver police are looking for dashcam footage from anyone who may have been driving near the scene of the killing around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Investigators are also asking witnesses who saw anyone around the burning SUV, before or after the fire, to phone police at 604-717-2500.
"Anyone who was into that vehicle, getting out of that vehicle, running away … please don't assume someone else has told us that information," Doucette said.
Those who wish to remain anonymous are asked to call Crime Stoppers.