Police were still on the scene Friday morning at the scene of a targeted homicide at a house on Wellington Avenue in Chilliwack early Thursday morning.
When Chilliwack RCMP officers arrived at the scene in the 45000-block of Wellington at approximately 5 a.m. on June 7, emergency personnel were already treating a victim suffering life-threatening injuries, according to RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Mike Rail.
The victim succumbed to his injuries at the scene.
The RCMP’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) was called in and spent the day there.
Police did not identify the victim right away, saying only that he was known to police, and that the public is not and was not in danger.
The Progress learned the victim was 25-year-old Zacharia Nicholli Cross.
Several friends immediately posted condolences on Cross’s Facebook wall, and his mother expressed her shock at the killing on a public Facebook group.
“It was my son Zach Cross and he was shot,” Barbara Cheyne posted. “I’m heart broken and in disbelief. Lost my other boy a few years ago to a train. Parents worst nightmare, can’t believe I’m going through it again.”
At a press conference late Thursday, IHIT confirmed the victim’s identity, adding, “Mr. Cross was known to police and associated to drug activity.”
His older brother was Clayton Eheler who is well-known to police, and was in the news in recent years as an alleged member of a drug syndicate charged with dealing drugs in B.C.’s north.
Eheler’s case is slowly making its way through the system and he is next due in court June 18.
• READ MORE: Crime syndicate trial may not go until 2018
The focus of the Cross investigation on Wellington has been on a blue house between Cook and Edwards streets.
One neighbour told The Progress the house had been a “problem” for years, and another neighbour confirmed it was the house attended by RCMP Emergency Response Team (ERT) for an alleged domestic dispute a few months ago.
The killing of Cross represents the second homicide in the city in 2018. The first was the killing of Cody Isaacson in a drug house on Broadway Avenue on Jan. 31, also a targeted killing.
Anyone with information regarding this investigation can call the IHIT information line at 1-877-551-IHIT (4448) or email ihittipline@rcmp-grc.gc.ca. Anonymous tips can be provided on the web at solvecrime.ca or by phone at 1-800-222-8477.
• READ MORE: Father of Chilliwack homicide victim said he knew it was coming
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