Open this photo in gallery:
Chang Yong Cho in an undated handout photo.Integrated Homicide Investigation Team/The Canadian Press
Homicide investigators say an 85-year-old man was killed in his Burnaby, B.C., home by a stray bullet from a shooting a block away, and are appealing to a group of youth believed to be involved to “do the right thing” and come forward.
Sgt. Freda Fong with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said investigators believed a personal dispute among the teenagers may have led to the death of Chang Yong Cho in a “heartbreaking and tragic” case.
The homicide team said Cho was found dead in his home around 4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 30, more than 14 hours after police responded to reports of shots being fired.
Fong told reporters at a briefing in Burnaby that the group of young people believed to have been involved know police want to talk to them.
“We have been making efforts to locate the youth and to identify their exact involvement in the shooting,” she said, while also urging their parents to come forward.
“They’re young individuals, maybe they somehow got access to guns, but we do believe someone will have the heart to do the right thing for the sake of Mr. Cho’s family and to give them some answers. Maybe it was a mistake,” said Fong.
It was unclear about how many youth were involved in the incident, but Fong said they were from the Lower Mainland, including one person from Burnaby.
She said she did not want to go further in identifying them “so as not to compromise their rights in the future.”
Fong declined to say how many bullets were fired, where exactly Cho had been in the apartment or if he was asleep when he was shot.
She said any time young people are involved in a case, police need to exhibit care in what they tell the public, in case the investigation is compromised.
“They know who we’re talking about, and we’re appealing to them and their parents to do the right thing, right now,” Fong said of the suspects, adding that the crime was not believed to be gang-related or linked to the drug trade.
Fong said Burnaby RCMP officers had responded to the initial report of shots near 18th and Humphries avenues at around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday.
A vehicle thought to be linked to the shooting had fled before police arrived and the initial investigation did not locate any injured victims, the homicide team said in a statement.
It was not until Sunday afternoon that RCMP received a request for a wellness check in an apartment complex in the 7400 block of Kingsway, where officers located Cho with a gunshot wound. He was subsequently pronounced dead.
“Preliminary findings led investigators to believe the deceased was an innocent victim who was struck by a stray bullet from the earlier shots-fired incident,” the statement said.
There was no visible indication of the shooting at the apartments on Tuesday.
Fong called the case “highly unusual” and the complexities of the scene led police to delay the “shocking” preliminary findings.
Cpl. Mike Kalanj with Burnaby RCMP said he believed Cho lived alone.
“We’re doing everything we can to find the people responsible for this,” he said, adding that Cho was known in the community as “a lovely individual.”
The homicide unit said it was identifying the victim in an effort to advance the investigation.
“This is a heartbreaking and tragic loss of life,” Fong said. “Mr. Cho was simply in his home when his life was suddenly taken, leaving behind a grieving family and loved ones.”
Fong said the source of the gun would be part of the investigation.
“What’s important here is that this is a stark reminder that any time there is gun violence in our communities, someone innocent can be at risk. And this was someone’s grandpa, this was someone’s dad who leaves behind a grieving and loving family,” said Fong.
Kalanj said the shooting was every first responder’s “nightmare.”
Homicide investigators want to speak to witnesses and anyone with dashcam or security footage from the area near the scene in Burnaby between 12:30 a.m. and 2 a.m. on August 30.
Fong said “the Cho family deserves answers.”
“At that age, you would expect that they pass peacefully, surrounded by their loved ones,” she said. “He didn’t have that opportunity, and you need to do the right thing and take some accountability for yours or your children’s actions, and we’re pleading for you to come forward to help our investigation.”