The RCMP’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) has identified the victim of Sunday’s murder in Chilliwack as James Edward Vidal.
The Chilliwack RCMP responded to reports of a shooting in the 45700-block of Alexander Avenue at approximately 6:30 a.m. on March 10.
• READ MORE: RCMP confirm man in his 30s shot dead in Chilliwack Sunday
Emergency services arrived finding 33-year-old Vidal with gunshot wounds. He died at the scene, and IHIT was called in to take over the investigation.
IHIT is working closely with the Chilliwack RCMP Serious Crime Unit to interview witnesses. IHIT crime scene investigators worked alongside forensic specialists from the Integrated Forensic Identification Services to collect physical evidence.
https://www.theprogress.com/news/rcmp-tape-off-area-downtown-chilliwack-sunday-morning/
In a press release issued Monday, IHIT spokesperson Cpl. Frank Jang said they will continue to liaise with the B.C. Coroners Service and a post-mortem examination is expected to be conducted this week.
Vidal is well-known to police and his murder is believed to be targeted.
“We are fortunate that no one else was hurt as a result of this careless act,” Jang said. “IHIT will be aggressively pushing forward on its investigative avenues and we are looking to the community to partner with us in solving this murder.”
Immediately after the shooting an area surrounding the corner of Alexander and Lois Lane was blocked off.
Earlier in the morning, at about 6 a.m., fire crews rushed to McCammon elementary at the end of Wellington Avenue to respond to a car fire in the school’s back parking lot. IHIT did not immediately respond to questions about whether the homicide and the vehicle fire were linked.
It is also unclear if anyone else was injured in the incident, but there was a report that a friend of Vidal’s was in hospital.
Vidal is well-known to police with numerous criminal convictions, mostly in Chilliwack, dating back nearly 15 years. He has nothing, however, listed on Court Service Online in the last three years with his most recent conviction in August 2016 for break-and-enter, assault and assault causing bodily harm with two other co-accused.
His older brother Curtis Vidal is even more well-known to police, most recently having been convicted of a violent home invasion in 2016 and sentenced to eight years in jail.
• READ MORE: Eight years in prison for Chilliwack gangster
Visit www.theprogress.com for more information as this story develops.
@PeeJayAitchpaul.henderson@theprogress.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
