Vancouver — One man is dead after a double shooting outside a downtown Vancouver strip club late Wednesday night.
Police say a “wild west” fight broke out between two groups of men around 10:40 p.m. Wednesday at the Cecil Hotel's strip club, Constable Tim Fanning said.
According to footage taken from surveillance cameras inside the club, Constable Fanning said a shot was fired and every one ran out the back door of the strip club. The fight continued in the parking lot involving as many as 30 men.
During the fight one man was shot fatally.
Police wouldn't release the name of the victim, a 30-year-old man from Richmond, because they're still informing his family.
A 32-year-old Surrey man was shot in the leg. He left hospital early Thursday morning following treatment.
Constable Fanning said both men are known to police and have gang associations, but he wouldn't elaborate on whether the fight was gang-related.
“We don't know if someone looked at somebody the wrong way or if a beer was knocked over, but suffice to say … something that started as a wild west fight in a bar quickly turned deadly,” he said.
“Our uniformed gang task force and our gang unit has walked through that bar. … It is a bar the police walk through on a fairly regular basis.”
Constable Fanning speculated that the men probably concealed the weapons and brought them into the bar. He did not know whether the Cecil had a metal detector.
Police took about 25 witnesses in for questioning Wednesday night. They have all since been released.
Police don't know the number or type of weapons involved in the shooting or how many shots were fired. They have no suspects. Police towed four cars parked behind the Cecil — three were taken for forensic evidence, while one belonged to the victim.
The Cecil Hotel opened for business Thursday morning. All was quiet except for about a dozen police officers combing the area behind the club.
The Cecil manager, who would only identify himself as Jamie, declined to comment.
This was the city's 10th homicide of the 2008.
