The Canadian flag at 12th and Cambie will fly at half-mast and counselling is being offered to staff, after a City of Vancouver sanitation manager was murdered at his home in Burnaby on Wednesday.
“The City Management Team, elected officials and staff across all departments are shocked and saddened to learn of the tragic murder of a long-time City employee,” said the Thursday morning memo, which did not name the victim. “Deepest condolences and support have been offered to the family and friends of our colleague.”
The memo said the city had no information yet about funeral arrangements.
A man was shot in broad daylight, just after noon, outside a house on 7988 Wickham Pl. in Burnaby. He was rushed to hospital where he died. That is the address of Hanif Jessa, who is listed in the city staff directory as the superintendent of street cleaning - nights. The incident led to evacuations at the Manitoba and National works yards before 3 p.m. on Wednesday. City manager Penny Ballem would not comment. She referred questions to the Vancouver Police Department, whose media office was closed before 4:30 p.m. and did not respond to an email query.
A worker at National Works Yard on the False Creek Flats, who declined to be named in print, said workers were immediately told to park vehicles and go home at 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday.
They were told that police hoped the incident would be resolved by 11 p.m. The worker said they were told matter involved an unspecified threat by a former city worker against a manager.
Around the same time, Manitoba Works Yard in South Vancouver was also evacuated.
The worker said a photograph of a person of interest had been circulated for security reasons.
City workers received a 4:49 p.m. memo from Mayor Gregor Robertson, notifying them that additional security guards and Vancouver Police officers had been deployed to city sites out of an abundance of caution. The memo said the additional security measures “are no longer necessary and the city is returning to normal operations.”
