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Gofundme for shooting victim's family raises over $50K

Photo Paul Bennett/Facebook A gofundme to support the family of a man who was shot and killed in a case of mistaken identity has exceeded its $50,000 goal with donations from 349 people. Paul Bennett was a father, nurse and volunteer hockey coach.

 Photo Paul Bennett/FacebookPhoto Paul Bennett/Facebook

A gofundme to support the family of a man who was shot and killed in a case of mistaken identity has exceeded its $50,000 goal with donations from 349 people.

Paul Bennett was a father, nurse and volunteer hockey coach. He was gunned down in the driveway of his home in Cloverdale, Surrey on June 23 and died at the age of 47.

The gofundme was started by his friend and co-worker Tammy Larson, who remembers Bennett as "a wonderful and generous man, who would always have a smile and a positive word to say to lift your spirits or make you laugh." He was an operating room nurse at Peace Arch Hospital in White Rock.

Larson says she wanted to give the community a chance to honour him and help his family when they need it most. "If this tragedy can happen to a wonderful man, father, husband, son, brother and family guy such as Paul. It surely can happen to anyone of us at any given moment in time."

A standing room only memorial service was held in Langley on Friday and hundreds wore their hockey jerseys to honour their former coach. His teammates have also created and donated a chair made from their hockey sticks to his family as a tribute to the man that touched their lives.

Investigators determined that Bennett was not the intended victim of a targeted shooting. "This is a tragic incident and it has left a family and community devastated,” says Corporal Frank Jang of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team in a news release.

Police have posted surveillance video of a four-door Honda Civic leaving the area after the shooting. Investigators and the Bennett family are appealing to the public to provide  information to the police that could help solve the case.