Loved ones hold vigil for 30-year-old man shot dead in South Vancouver

A candlelight vigil was held Thursday for a 30-year-old man killed in South Vancouver earlier this week.

Dozens of people gathered at King George Park in Richmond, B.C., to remember the life of Amin Shahin Shakur, who police say was shot and died near Main Street and East 48th Avenue just after 11 p.m. PT Monday.

Shakur was shot outside two popular businesses he helped run, a marijuana dispensary and a specialty snack shop called Dank Mart.

The site now has a growing roadside memorial where loved ones have left flowers and snacks in his memory.

In Richmond, friends and family members also brought flowers, photographs and balloons to honour the young man in the neighbourhood where he grew up.

Spensir Sangara, Shakur's business partner and longtime friend, said Shakur was like a brother to him.

"He was my heart, he was my whole heart. I spent every day with him, the last 10 years. it was like my life ended," said Sangara, wearing a shirt printed with an image of Shakur.

Vancouver police say Shakur may have been targeted. They say the file is still under investigation and no arrests have been made.

"I can't speak on anything about the investigation. I'm going to let the police do that. They're amazing people and they're doing every thing they can," said Sangara.

The victim did not have an extensive police history, according to the VPD.

Sanghara says Shakur, who was better known as Shawn by those who knew him, will be missed by many and had worked hard all his life to accomplish what he had.

"He had no handouts, he's been working a full-time job since he was like eight-years-old. That spot that he was at where he died, that was the spot he had dreamed of his whole life."

Investigators are asking anyone with surveillance or dashcam footage of the area at the time of the shooting to contact the Vancouver Police Department.

It is the city's eighth homicide of 2020.