A man accused in the 2018 homicide deaths of two people — including a 15-year-old bystander — remains in custody pending an April bail hearing.
Kane Carter is charged with two murder counts as well as aggravated assault in relation to a third person also hit in the spray of gunfire.
A charge of using a restricted or prohibited firearm was also laid against Carter.
On Jan. 13, 2018, multiple people were hit with bullets in what police believe was a gang-related shooting near Vancouver's Ontario and Broadway intersection.
One of those killed was Kevin Whiteside, 23, who was "involved in gang life," according to the Vancouver Police Department (VPD).
The other was Coquitlam student Alfred Wong. He was hit by a bullet while in the back of his parents' car.
Carter appeared via video in Vancouver Provincial Court on March 15. Clad in red garb, Carter used a walker and had an apparent limp. It was his second appearance on the charges.
VPD Chief Adam Palmer announced on March 9 that Carter had been charged.
Police said they believed Whiteside, who was allegedly involved with local gangs, had gone to the area to shoot rival Matthew Navas-Rivas, 28, who had been having dinner with a woman at Indochine restaurant.
As the pair left the restaurant, Whiteside allegedly opened fire on 28-year-old Navas-Rivas, who police said was unarmed that night and had been targeted in the past. An unidentified second shooter returned gunfire.
"Gunfire was exchanged on the street as the Wong family passed by the restaurant in their car. A stray bullet entered the vehicle and struck Alfred," the VPD said in a press release.
Palmer credited the ability to lay charges to a long and extensive investigation involving hundreds of interviews and thousands of exhibits.
Palmer thanked the Wong family for their patience with the investigation through the “incredibly difficult time in their lives.”
Purported target later gunned down
Navas-Rivas was killed six months later on July 15, 2018 in another targeted shooting near Tillicum Community Annex on Cambridge Street in East Vancouver
Police said that while it also involved Navas-Rivas, investigators didn’t believe that incident was related to the shooting that killed Whiteside and Wong.
“Unfortunately, due to Mr. Navas-Rivas’ criminal lifestyle, there’s a lot of people who had reason to harm him or kill him... we believe these two incidents are separate and different,” VPD said. “Two different people targeted him.”
Whiteside, who was known to police, had multiple convictions, including:
- possession for the purpose of trafficking;
- assault with a weapon;
- breaking and entering; and
- possessing a firearm while prohibited.
He was subject to a lifetime firearms ban.
