The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) has announced charges in connection to what they called a “targeted shooting” of a 29-year-old man in Surrey last fall.
Kristijan Coric, a Surrey resident, was shot to death during the dinner-hour incident around 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2019, at a Clayton-area gas station in the 18600-block of Fraser Highway.
READ ALSO: One man dead after shooting in Surrey at Clayton-area gas station, Sept. 28, 2019
READ ALSO: ‘Targeted hit’ leaves man dead at Surrey gas station, police appeal for witnesses, Sept. 29, 2019
The windshield of black Mercedes-Benz G-Class vehicle, later covered with a tarp by police, had at least eight bullet holes in it. One witness said a masked suspect approached the vehicle and fired several shots before running from the scene.
On Friday (Oct. 30), IHIT announced charges against Carlos Nathaniel Monteith, 25, for first-degree murder, and Trion Demario Castello, 32, for accessory after the fact.
Sergeant Frank Jang of IHIT said Monteith was already in custody for “an unrelated matter,” and Castello was taken into custody Friday (Oct. 30).
Jang said an “influx” of information and dash-cam footage that came in from the public “proved very useful to our investigators.”
It was on Sept. 30, 2019 that IHIT appealed to the public for footage, releasing video surveillance of a person running across Fraser Highway. A couple of days later IHIT was looking for the drivers of a white SUV and a white Tesla sedan.
“We made the appeal to the community for witnesses, for dash-cam video and I’m pleased to say that the community responded.”
Jang said he couldn’t get into specifics about what was provided, but it was “significant information.”
READ ALSO: Tesla and SUV drivers likely saw Surrey shooting suspect, Oct. 2, 2019
READ ALSO: Police release video footage of Surrey shooting suspect, Sept. 30, 2019
(See videos posted below)
.@HomicideTeam has released footage showing a suspect in #SurreyBC's deadly shooting at a gas station in the hopes he can be ID'd. (He's shown crossing Fraser Hwy in 18600-block and then runs back across street, nearly being hit).
READ MORE: https://t.co/ElCYvVRHgf #SurreyBC pic.twitter.com/gdVLghXlaj
— Amy Marie Reid (@amyreid87) September 30, 2019
Meantime, Surrey RCMP Corporal Elenore Sturko said the charges announced Friday would hopefully “go some distance in bringing comfort to the people of Surrey.”
“I think that many residents in Surrey are going to remember this incident … because it happened at 6 o’clock in the evening in a busy commercial area at a time when a lot of people were in the area just going about their daily business.”
She added the shooting impacted people’s feelings of safety, “particularly in Cloverdale.”
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