Police have arrested two alleged Edmonton gangsters in connection with a murder in Richmond and a shooting in Surrey last fall.
Sean Jacob Lee Jennings, 27 and in custody in Edmonton on other charges, is charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of 23-year-old Theoren Poitras on Oct. 2.
Poitras, who police say was also part of the Alberta organized crime scene, was found face down in a pool of blood at a Richmond elementary school after witnesses reported hearing shots fired.
A separate investigation into a Surrey home invasion last fall also led police to a man now charged as an accomplice.
Four masked men forced their way into a basement suite in the 7600 block of 146A Street in Surrey on Sept. 23 and duct taped the victim inside.
Police say two male neighbours heard the commotion and came to investigate and one of them was shot in the jaw by one of the assailants. The shooting victim was rushed to hospital while the masked men fled.
Peter Blake Edmonds, 24, of Edmonton, is now charged with use of a firearm in the commission of an indictable offence and he’s also charged with accessory after the fact in the murder of Poitras.
Jennings is also charged in a July 20 murder in Edmonton. Other arrests and charges are also expected.
An Edmonton Police spokesman said the men were tied to “brutal home invasions involving levels of violence and intimidation so extreme that it is difficult for most to comprehend.”
Surrey RCMP had publicly identified four suspects in the home invasion last October, including Jennings and Edmonds.
Integrated Homicide Investigation Team Supt. Dwayne McDonald said the Poitras murder is believed to have been targeted and represented “a substantial risk to public safety.”
The investigation in B.C. included officers with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of B.C., Surrey RCMP, Vancouver Police.
CFSEU officials said the crime group appeared to be mainly involved in murders, home invasions, robberies, kidnappings, extortions and drug trafficking.
“The violent and transient nature of this crime group posed great challenges to conventional investigative strategies and heightened the risk to public safety,” according to a CFSEU release.
