One of the men shot to death Saturday night outside an upscale downtown restaurant had notorious Vancouver Island connections.
Ricardo Francis Scarpino, a 37-year-old from West Vancouver, has been identified as one of the two victims shot dead in front of a Vancouver restaurant Saturday in the city's latest gangland-style shooting.Witness said she heard six shots
Scarpino was driving an SUV on his way to his own engagement party at Gotham, an upscale steakhouse in downtown Vancouver, police said, when the incident happened.
Scarpino, his fiancée and two other men were in the 2007 Land Rover when it stopped in front of the restaurant shortly after 10 p.m. and shots rang out.
Scarpino was driving an SUV on his way to his own engagement party at Gotham, an upscale steakhouse in downtown Vancouver, police said, when the incident happened.
Scarpino, his fiancée and two other men were in the 2007 Land Rover when it stopped in front of the restaurant shortly after 10 p.m. and shots rang out.
At a news conference Sunday afternoon, Vancouver police spokesman Const. Tim Fanning described the incident as a "targeted shooting."
"As they were about to get out of the car, two men ran west across the street ... fired a number of shots into the car, killing two of the men," said Fanning.
He said Scarpino was "well-known" to police and and that he was involved in criminal activity.
"[Scarpino] was tied to a lot of other criminals and involved in criminal activity and that's why we believe it's a targeted attack and he was on someone's list to kill."
The other victim was a 38-year-old man, also from West Vancouver. He was not known to police.
That victim's name has not been released.
Police said the area where the restaurant is located is one of the busiest parts of downtown Vancouver at night.
After the shooting, the suspects fled on foot, and "disappeared" between buildings, according to police.
More than 200 witnesses have already been interviewed, leading to conflicting descriptions, police say.
A few blocks away two guns were recovered Saturday night, but police would not confirm if they were involved in the incident
Party guest taken into custody
Meanwhile, a 47-year-old Vancouver man who was a guest at the engagement party has been taken into custody on weapons and drug charges
Shortly after the shooting, police said, two men tried to leave the restaurant and one of them dropped a semi-automatic handgun to the ground
Fanning said the man was handcuffed and he was found to have a small amount of cocaine on him.
The man was not identified, but Fanning said he was not known to police.
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