Police in Surrey, B.C., arrested three men on Sunday after early morning gunfire at a home, believed to be yet another example of extortion-related shootings that have plagued the city in recent months.
The Surrey Police Service said officers were on patrol in the city's Crescent Beach neighbourhood just before 4 a.m. when a call came in about a shooting and small fire outside a home near 132 Street and Crescent Road.
The police service said members from the Lower Mainland police dog service and Delta Police also responded. Officers located a suspect vehicle driving in the area, and the people in it fled on foot. Three suspects were arrested a short time later after getting into a ride-share vehicle, police said.
Police said the fire was put out by Surrey firefighters. It didn't damage the home, which had people inside who were uninjured, but the home did get hit by gunfire.
The service said its major crime section is investigating whether the three men are linked to the shooting, but they have not been charged and police did not name the suspects.
"This incident is believed to be related to extortions," police said in a news release.
The Surrey Police Service said the officers involved were part of Project Assurance, which involves proactive patrols of neighbourhoods that have been targeted by an ongoing rash of extortion-related shootings in the city.
The latest arrests come less than a week after Surrey police arrested two foreign nationals under similar circumstances.
Police said last week that members patrolling the area of 129 Street and 84 Ave. on Jan. 26 heard a gunshot around 3:50 a.m. and stopped a vehicle where they alleged they found a loaded handgun.
They arrested 20-year-old Harshdeep Singh and 21-year-old Hanspreet Singh, who now face charges of occupying a vehicle knowing a firearm is present.
Harshdeep Singh has also been charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, police said.
The two men, police said, are foreign nationals and the Surrey Police Service said it had notified the Canada Border Services Agency.
The Surrey Police Service said the city began seeing "a spike in extortion threats and associated violence" in June 2025, and in addition to active patrols, the service now has a dedicated extortion tip line, with 15 of the service's officers also assigned to the BC Extortion Task Force.
The City of Surrey has also put up a $250,000 reward fund for people who provide "key information" about extortions in the city, which has Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke urging the federal government to declare a national state of emergency.
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Rich Lam
