One person is dead and a taxi driver is in hospital with serious injuries following the latest targeted shooting in the Lower Mainland..On Tuesday afternoon Surrey RCMP were called to a parking lot in the 14800 block of 108 Avenue after receiving reports of shots fired at a taxi..Upon arrival officers discovered both of the vehicle’s occupants had been shot. The driver was transported to hospital with “serious injuries” and the taxi’s passenger, a 30-year-old man died at the scene..The surrounding area was cordoned off and the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT) is leading the case in partnership with local Mounties..Surrey RCMP Cpl. Vanessa Munn said the deceased man is known to police, therefore “initial indications are that this was a targeted shooting.”.“This daytime shooting in a strip mall parking lot demonstrated a complete disregard for the safety of others and resulted in serious injuries to a taxi driver,” she said..IHIT confirmed Wednesday the deceased victim is David Chavez-Jara of Surrey, highlighting that he was recently convicted on drug trafficking charges and is "well known" to police.. David Chavez-JaraDavid Chavez-Jara .“IHIT is committed to working with our law enforcement partners as well as partners in the community to find those responsible and hold them accountable before they can hurt others,” said IHIT’s Sgt. Timothy Pierotti Wednesday..The murder comes three days after another daylight shooting on the Trans-Canada Highway in Burnaby that left an 18-year-old man dead and another wounded..A week prior to that killing, three men were shot in the parking lot of the South Surrey Athletic Park, killing two and critically injury a third..That incident came less than a week after another broad daylight shooting in Whistler, BC that left two dead..As for the unofficially identified 30-year-old man killed on Tuesday, he’s not the only person connected to the Lower Mainland's gang conflict to have been tracked and killed while taking a taxi..In December 2020, a 14-year-old Burnaby teen was fatally shot in Surrey while exiting a taxi, making him one of the youngest victims involved in the area’s ongoing gang war.
