Police say they are 鈥渉yper-aware鈥 and aren鈥檛 ruling out retaliation after one of the founders of a notoriously violent B.C. drug gang was shot to death last week outside his Kamloops home.
Konaam Shirzad, one of the founders of the Red Scorpions, died of gunshot wounds after being ambushed by two unidentified suspects outside his Guerin Creek home at about 7:20 p.m. on Sept. 21.
On Thursday, police held a press conference and released surveillance video from a nearby building showing the suspects in the area before and after the shooting.
鈥淥bviously, we鈥檙e hyper-aware now and it is a possibility that something further could happen,鈥 RCMP Cpl. Jodi Shelkie told reporters.
The video shows two men dressed in black parking a stolen Honda Civic near the Hudson鈥檚 Bay Landing construction site, leaving the vehicle and walking across an empty lot to Shirzad鈥檚 condo complex.
Fifteen minutes later, the men can be seen driving away in the Honda, which was found burning on an Upper Sahali cul de sac 10 minutes later. The video does not show the suspects walking back to their vehicle.
鈥淭here鈥檚 some information there that we鈥檙e not releasing at this time,鈥 Shelkie said.
According to Shelkie, investigators aren鈥檛 ruling anything out.
鈥淲e believe this is organized crime-related,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 know what preceded this 鈥 what actions happened to cause this shooting. We don鈥檛 know that it鈥檚 not retaliation for something else.鈥
A neighbour told KTW Mounties were at his door on the morning of the shooting asking about a BMW in the neighbourhood. Shirzad was known to drive a BMW.
One of Shirzad鈥檚 associates suffered minor gunshot wounds in the ambush. Shelkie said he has not been co-operative with police.
A neighbour who heard the gunshots told KTW he heard two distinctly different calibre weapons. Shelkie refused to comment on whether multiple weapons were involved.
鈥淲e wouldn鈥檛 be commenting on that,鈥 she said.
Investigators are looking for more surveillance footage that could help identify the suspects. Shelkie also urged anyone with potential dash-cam footage to contact police.
鈥淚f people have dash-cam video in Kamloops, if they can really reflect where they were last Thursday, if they were anywhere near Hudson鈥檚 Bay Trail or Odin Court, we would like to speak with them,鈥 she said.
Shelkie also said investigators would like to speak with a pedestrian in the area just before the shooting and the driver of a dark-coloured SUV seen driving past the Honda as it was parking.