Gunman slain after shooting spree kills 2 in B.C., Canada
Police officers work at the site after authorities alerted residents of multiple shootings targeting transient victims in the Vancouver suburb of Langley, British Columbia, Canada, July 25, 2022. (Reuters Photo)


Three people including the suspected gunman were killed in a series of shootings in Canada's British Columbia province on Monday, police said.

Police said the shooting in the city of Langley, a suburb of Vancouver, started around midnight and that four people were shot by what was believed to be a lone male gunman. Two men were found dead and another man and a woman were injured. The woman is in critical condition in hospital.

Police said the shooter, who they identified as Jordan Daniel Goggin, 28, was wounded when they located him and he was shot dead at the scene by officers.

Goggin was from nearby Surrey and "was known to police but had non-criminal contact," police said in a statement.

"We're still investigating to determine if the gunman had acted alone. While the investigation is ongoing, all indications are that there was nobody else involved and there is no further ongoing threat to public safety," Chief Superintendent Ghalib Bhayani of the regional Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)force said at a news conference.

Shootings occurred in at least five different locations throughout the City of Langley and the Township of Langley. Police had asked the public to remain out of several areas, including the parking lot of a casino and a bus stop.

Authorities had earlier issued an emergency alert for multiple shootings in the city of Langley and asked residents to stay alert and away from the area of the incident.

Police in Langley, a suburb of Vancouver, said they responded to "multiple reports of shots fired with several victims and several different scenes throughout the City of Langley, and one scene in the Township of Langley" and asked the public to remain out of several areas, including the parking lot of a casino and a bus stop.

In an alert sent to B.C. residents' phones, police said the shootings involved "transient victims," which led to suggestions the victims were homeless. The alert said the suspect was described as a white man in overalls and a camouflage T-shirt.

A Reuters eyewitness saw two black SUVs, similar to those used by police emergency response teams, in a ditch near one of the shooting sites. One vehicle had bullet holes in the windshield.

Police closed off the main route through the center of the city. Authorities later issued a cellphone alert saying the suspect was in custody.

Authorities initially said they were unsure if the shooter acted alone. But police later said the man in custody is believed to be solely responsible.

A homicide team confirmed on social media that its investigators deployed to Langley to help the mounted police.

Yellow police tape surrounded a sandwich shop and a parking lot in Langley at the scene of one of the shootings. A black tent was set up over one of the crime scenes.

Langley is about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of Vancouver.

Mass shootings are less common in Canada than in the United States. The deadliest gun rampage in Canadian history happened in 2020 when a man disguised as a police officer shot people in their homes and set fires across the province of Nova Scotia, killing 22 people.

The country overhauled its gun-control laws after an attacker named Marc Lepine killed 14 women and himself in 1989 at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique college.

It is now illegal to possess an unregistered handgun or any kind of rapid-fire weapon in Canada. To purchase a weapon, the country also requires training, a personal risk assessment, two references, spousal notification and criminal record checks.