A paroled man gunned down within blocks of his halfway house in September was not targeted for his criminal past but was a victim of mistaken identity - "in the wrong place at the wrong time," say Vancouver police.
Rajinder Soomel, 35, appeared to have been targeted by the gunmen, who shot him dead one evening at a busy intersection in the Cambie Village neighbourhood within sight of a Starbucks café and the popular Park movie theatre.
When he was gunned down, Mr. Soomel was on parole for his conviction in a plot to kill a witness in the murder trial of his younger brother.
Constable Lindsey Houghton of the Vancouver Police Department said yesterday the actual target of the shooting was another man, also a parolee at the halfway house.
That man is now incarcerated.
Constable Houghton declined to identify the intended victim, suggesting such information could threaten that man's safety as well as the investigation.
"His life could still, very well, be in danger," he said.
He said that Vancouver police have discussed the issue with Corrections Canada to ensure measures are in place to ensure the man's safety.
He said police are not yet sure of the motive for the attack that resulted in Mr. Soomel becoming Vancouver's 18th homicide victim of the year.
"We wouldn't even be able to speculate on what was going through the killers' heads. They saw Mr. Soomel and perhaps decided it was an opportunistic thing to do, or perhaps they believed [he]was their intended target," said Constable Houghton.
After the shooting, the halfway house said it would no longer accept criminals with gang ties.
Gunmen came looking for Mr. Soomel at the halfway house and then went out and found him on the "unbelievably busy" Cambie Street where, Constable Houghton said yesterday, 60 to 70 people were within metres of the shooting.
"That area at that time of night was very busy, and we are very lucky that no one else was killed or hurt," Constable Houghton said.
Ian Bailey