Richmond resident Tejinder Singh Malli, 29, was gunned down in his parked car near the Olympic cauldron around 10:30 pm on Monday. He was rushed to hospital but succumbed to his injuries shortly after. Investigators believe that the shooters may have been in the area for an hour or two prior to the incident, and they used a vehicle to flee the scene following the shooting.
VANCOUVER – Police are looking a suspicious vehicle that is believed to have been used as a get-away car following the March 10th murder of an Indo-Canadian gangster in the Coal Harbour area of downtown Vancouver.
Richmond resident Tejinder Singh Malli was gunned down in his parked car near the Olympic cauldron around 10:30 pm on Monday.
Malli, 29, was rushed to hospital but succumbed to his injuries shortly after.
Around 10:30 Monday night, Malli and another man were shot while sitting in a car that was parked on Cordova Street near Thurlow. The second man, a 28-year-old North Vancouver,remains in hospital in stable condition.
Investigators believe that the shooters may have been in the area for an hour or two prior to the incident, and they used a vehicle to flee the scene following the shooting.
“The victims are known to police, are associated to gangs and are connected to the drug trade,” Vancouver Police Sgt. Randy Fincham said. “It is still early in the investigation, but the murder does appear to be targeted.”
Malli’s family home was the target of a Dec. 30, 2007 drive-by shooting that saw four bullets pierce the residence—including two into the front door, one that ricocheted before becoming lodged in a refrigerator and another in a living room wall. Richmond Mounties recovered nine shell casings from the scene, reported Richmond Review newspaper.
Police say Malli’s death marked the end to a decade-long career in crime that involved guns, drugs and a tendency to switch allegiances.
“He has longstanding associations to a number of gangs here in the Lower Mainland, including the Red Scorpions and the Buttar Crime Group,” said Sgt. Lindsey Houghton of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit.
“He knew the risks that his association and involvement in gangs posed to the people he associated with, yet he continued and this is the result.”
Houghton said Malli also operated his own crime group and had been the subject of several police investigations.
Malli was arrested and charged following a 2009 police raid in South Vancouver but managed to dodge prosecution when the counts were dropped.
Police are giving few further details but one witness said he saw three men running from the scene and there are conflicting reports of whether the suspects fled on foot or in a vehicle.
“I literally heard just seven loud shots,” said the witness.
Another witness among those who heard the gunfire, when the two men in a car were shot, rushed to the area to see a silver car riddled with bullet holes.
“The window was crashed out; we actually saw, on the driver’s side, what looked like bullet holes that sort of perforated the door. The cops were pulling a man out of the car,” the witness told the media.
The incident marks the City of Vancouver’s second murder of 2014.
Anyone with information about a suspicious vehicle in the area of Cordova and Thurlow Street between 9:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on March 10th is asked to contact the VPD Major Crime Section at (604) 717-2500 or Crime Stoppers at 1 (800) 222-8477.
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