Vancouver police have arrested a third suspect in connection with a series of targeted shootings in the Downtown Eastside last weekend.
Vancouver police announced Friday that a third person has been arrested and charged in spate of shootings in the Downtown Eastside this past weekend. Photo Dan Toulgoet
Joseph Bassett, a 29-year-old with no fixed address, is charged with two counts of attempted murder and multiple weapons offences.
VPD officers responded around 6 p.m. on Sept. 22 after shots were fired near East Pender and Abbott streets, injuring a 28-year old man from Langley and a 25-year-old man from Surrey. It was one of three shootings in the Downtown Eastside over a 15-hour period.
On Tuesday afternoon, two Vancouver residents, 26-year-old Thomas Joseph Brown and 31-year-old Desirae Lorell Cardinal, were arrested and face charges in Monday’s early morning shooting at the Grand Union Hotel on West Hastings Street. A 50-year-old Vancouver man was rushed to hospital with serious injuries.
Brown and Cardinal were charged with unlawfully discharging a firearm and possessing a firearm contrary to an order. Brown is also facing a charge of possessing a firearm contrary to an order.
The first two shootings happened on Sunday within two hours of one another — one just before 4 p.m., near East Hastings Street and Dunlevy Avenue and the second around 6 p.m. in the area of East Pender and Abbott streets — followed by Monday’s incident at the Grand Union Hotel at 6:30 a.m.
“Dozens of VPD investigators have worked relentlessly to gather evidence and solve these crimes. We are working to restore a sense of safety in the community,” said VPD Constable Steve Addison in a press release issued Friday. “We will continue to work day and night to combat violent crime and protect vulnerable residents in the area.”
Bassett was arrested in Vancouver yesterday without incident and is in custody
“Each of these shootings appears targeted and gang related,” said Const. Addison. “We are still investigating any and all connections between the three incidents, and we need anyone with information to do the right thing and come forward.”
Anyone with additional information is asked to call the VPD Major Crime Section at 604-717-2500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
—with files from Jessica Kerr
