Pubdate: Thu, 10 Jan 2008 Source: Prince George Citizen (CN BC) Copyright: 2008 Prince George Citizen Contact: http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/350 Author: Frank Peebles, Citizen Staff VICTIM STILL IN CRITICAL One local man remains in critical condition in hospital in Vancouver suffering from a gunshot wound he suffered during part of a gangland-style violence spree over the last few weeks. The violence included a fight at Pine Centre Mall and a minor stabbing on Christmas Eve; a pair of shootings minutes apart on Wednesday, a bomb threat called in at a nightclub (believed to be a diversionary hoax); and a drive-by shooting on Norwood Street Thursday night. Senior investigators said they are reasonably confident the shootings are related to Prince George gang disputes, but "we are still connecting the dots." Sgt. Raj Sidhu, the newly-appointed head of the city's task force unit, said the gang reality is not so clear-cut as it was only a couple of years ago. That is a big concern, but also a big sign of success in the battle against the drug lords. "We traditionally had the Renegades here, the outlaw motorcycle gang, then the Crew came in so we had two gangs and we did a lot of enforcement against them," Sidhu said. "Most of them were arrested and sent to jail fairly recently. That created a void. Now we have the Independent Soldiers coming in to fill that void." Sidhu said the three gangs are now locked in a dance of sorts for control of the kinds of drugs each will sell and in what parts of the city, for what price. "They are here to make money off the backs of addicts," Sidhu said. "Their only motivation is greed for money and greed for power." Prince George RCMP spokesman Const. Gary Godwin said they showed in these shootings that they do not care who else might get hurt in the process. "The use of high-powered rifles is very disturbing," Godwin said. "Those bullets will travel through the walls of houses and carry on to hit other things. They are much more powerful than handgun bullets, and even those can go stray and hit people who had nothing to do with the target." Sidhu said he is still looking into what the upper echelons of the Independent Soldiers might be, and how it is connected to the pre-existing gangs in Prince George, both of whom had turf agreements of sorts and both answered to the Lower Mainland Hells Angels. Now, with all the transitions, membership in the Crew and the Independent Soldiers can be quite fluid, police said. If you have information, call the RCMP at 561-3300 or the anonymous Crime Stoppers tips line at 1-800-222-TIPS / www.pgcrimestoppers.bc.ca. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart