The man killed in a gang-related shooting in North Surrey Friday was released on bail last year for his role in a Chilliwack home invasion.
Police have identified the deceased as 24-year-old Christopher Reddy, who was a resident of Vancouver with family living in Surrey.
Witnesses told The Leader they heard between 12 and 20 gun shots in rapid succession near 131 Street and 111 Avenue on Friday at about 3:40 p.m.
Police arrived to find a man suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Officers began CPR on the victim, but he succumbed to his injuries.
RCMP Sgt. Peter Thiessen said Friday the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) took over the case the shooting appears to be gang-related.
The victim was well-known to police throughout the Lower Mainland, Thiessen said.
In 2006, Reddy was charged in a home invasion in Chilliwack, where he broke into a home, beat a man and held a gun to the man’s wife.
Reddy and two masked men armed with handguns and a sawed-off shotgun, broke into the home on Chilliwack Lake Road, believing there was a marijuana grow operation inside.
There wasn’t.
But the 46-year-old homeowner put up such a violent struggle that he was tied up and pistol-whipped, and his 36-year-old wife had a gun pointed to her head as she was dragged around the house by her hair.
Reddy pleaded guilty to break-and-enter, robbery with a firearm, unlawful confinement, wearing a mask in the commission of a crime, and assault. He did not plead guilty to assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm, pointing a firearm, possessing a weapon for a dangerous purpose and uttering threats.
The trial faced almost four years in delays while Reddy appealed a 2005 weapons possession. His appeal was heard and he was acquitted on those charges.
Because of those delays, the judge feared Reddy would not see trial on the break and enter charges, so in an unusual move, she released him on bail last year on the condition that he return to Surrey to live with his mother until his next court date.
After Friday’s shooting of Reddy, IHIT investigators spent the weekend canvassing the area for witnesses and further evidence in an effort to determine exactly what occurred.
Anyone with information regarding this homicide who has not spoken to investigators is asked to call the IHIT Tip Line at 1-877-551-IHIT (4448).
~with files from Robert Freeman
