Three men have been charged with the first-degree murder of Jonathan Bacon, formerly of Abbotsford, and the attempted murder of four others in Kelowna in August 2011.
In a press conference held Monday in Delta, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit (CFSEU) announced that Jujhar Khun-Khun of Surrey, Michael Kerry Hunter Jones of Gibsons, and Jason Thomas McBride of North Vancouver were arrested last Friday.
CFSEU Chief Supt. Dan Malo said the arrests were part of an 18-month investigation, called E-Nitrogen, and were made after 100 officers in Vancouver, Kelowna and Toronto executed simultaneous search warrants.
Khun-Khun, 25, who has survived two targeted shootings believed to be in retaliation for Bacon's death, was arrested at his residence in Surrey, while Jones, 25, was arrested at his home in Vancouver.
McBride, 37, was arrested in Toronto, where he had recently moved, but has been transferred to B.C.
All three have been remanded in custody.
Bacon, 30, a key player in the Red Scorpions gang, was in a Porsche Cayenne SUV with four other people when they were shot at on Aug. 14, 2011 outside of the Delta Grand Okanagan Resort in Kelowna.
The shooting wounded Hells Angel Larry Amero, Independent Soldier James Riach, and Lyndsey Black, while Leah Hadden-Watts was paralyzed.
Malo said police believe the "cascade of violence," which has continued since the Kelowna incident, began with the fatal shooting of Gurmit Dhak in October 2010 in a parking lot at Burnaby's Metrotown shopping centre.
"There have been several homicides that have occurred through the last 18 months, with the flashpoint being that of Gurmit Dhak …. that caused groups to align, groups that we had not seen align in the past, and a sustained conflict among those gangs," Malo said at the press conference.
Khun-Khun was critically injured in that shooting, and was also shot at in Surrey one month after Bacon's killing.
Since Bacon's death, several other high-profile gangsters have been killed or targeted, including Sandip Duhre, who was gunned down in a Vancouver restaurant in January 2012.
Sukh Dhak died in November 2012 after being shot in the lobby of the Executive Inn Hotel and Conference Centre in Burnaby. His bodyguard Thomas Mantel was also killed.
Last month, Manjinder Hairan was fatally gunned down near 127 Street and 112B Avenue in the Bridgeview area of Surrey. Khun-Khun was again critically wounded in that incident.
Khun-Khun was also arrested last September in Abbotsford in a car that was allegedly seen pulling away from the scene of a drive-by shooting on Bradner Road, but no charges were laid.
Malo said the investigation surrounding the Kelowna shooting is ongoing.