Man Shot Outside Vancouver International Airport

on

Parts of Vancouver International Airport (YVR) were closed off yesterday, marked off by yellow tape, as police responded to an incident outside of the airport’s main terminal. What started off as reports of gunfire were revealed as a murder outside the airport’s domestic departure terminal.

Second to Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, Vancouver is Canada’s second-busiest airport. Photo: Vancouver International Airport

Departures level outside airport closed off

According to Global News, police responded to the incident after receiving calls at around 15:00 local time. The brazen daytime shooting took place on the domestic side of Vancouver’s main terminal, on the elevated departure level.

The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) reported that officers intercepted the getaway vehicle, and shots were fired at the police during the chase. Unfortunately, the vehicle managed to evade police, who closed off key roads out of the city of Richmond, where the airport is situated. However, they were unable to catch the shooters.

“We do not have anybody in custody. We have not had additional reports of additional shootings underway, which is what I would classify as an active situation,” – Dawn Roberts, Spokesperson, BC RCMP via Global News

The incident took place outside the domestic departures drop-off area, shown here in the upper half of the photo. Photo: Getty Images

One witness reported seeing several people dressed in black outside the departures terminal, noting that two of them fired their weapons over a dozen times. At the scene of the crime, a white Mercedes with the door still open was spotted behind police tape. A blue tent covered part of the sidewalk outside the terminal with portable dividers blocking off certain sections.

Stay informed: Sign up for our daily and weekly aviation news digests.

Minimal disruption to airport operations

According to Vancouver Airport’s social media channels, an initial post warned the public of a police incident. However, the initial message noted “the airport is open and safe with restricted access.” The public post also added:

“Flights are operating. Please check with your airline on the status of your flight before coming to the airport.”

Roughly an hour after the first social media post, YVR issued the following statement:

Public transport and traffic disruptions

TransLink, the company responsible for metro service to the airport, said that there were disruptions to service for the three stations situated on Sea Island (on which Vancouver Airport is situated).

While one station serves travelers heading to and from the airport, another station is key for certain airport employees. The organization noted that the disruption was temporary and that service has since resumed.

From social media posts, it appears that police actions to cut off traffic resulted in heavy congestion on the major roads in the vicinity of the airport.

The Vancouver Sun notes that the victim in Sunday’s incident was a known gang member. The 28-year-old killed was believed to be part of an ongoing gang conflict.

The area in and around Vancouver (known as the lower mainland) has had a number of targeted, gang-related shootings in recent weeks. The Vancouver Sun also notes that in the past three weeks, there have been at least 10 shootings, with many of these leading to fatalities.

With all of this activity, it should be made clear that an incident of this nature is the first to have taken place at Vancouver Airport in its 90-year history, which is considered one of the best airports in North America.



from Simple Flying https://ift.tt/3ezNLba
via IFTTT

Comments

Post a Comment