Jamie Bacon, 23, was wearing body armour when gunmen in another car opened fire on his black Mercedes at the corner of South Fraser Way and Sumas Way about 3:50 p.m., hitting the leased luxury sedan several times.
Jamie Bacon alleged member of the Red Scorpion gang appears to be the intended target of an afternoon shootout in Abbotsford. Around 4:00 pm Tuesday, police received several reports of gunfire near the intersection of South Fraser Way and Sumas Way. Witnesses reported two cars firing at each another. When officers arrived on scene they found one of the cars involved, a black Mercedes, had crashed into a concrete stairway leading to a Keg restaurant. Police say the intended target is well known to them and was wearing body armour. He was not seriously injured. Police won't confirm reports the man driving the car was known gang member Jamie Bacon.
Police questioned the driver before releasing him and are still looking for the passengers of the other car. The Bacon brothers -- Jamie, Jarrod and Jonathan -- are all well known to police. In 2006, Jonathan, the oldest brother, was shot several times outside the family's Abbotsford home on Strathcona Court. No charges have been laid in connection with the shooting. In 2008, police took the unusual step of setting up a 24-hour surveillance camera to monitor the house after death threats were made against their family by rival gangs.The youngest of a trio of notorious Abbotsford brothers narrowly escaped death Tuesday after his vehicle was targeted in a wild rush-hour shooting at a busy Abbotsford intersection.One bullet hit another car that happened to be passing, though no one was injured, Abbotsford police Const. Casey Vinet confirmed.Const. Vinet said it is amazing no one was hurt in the brazen shooting.
"We are concerned about the public nature of this shooting," he said. "It is intolerable...somebody could have easily been injured."
"There is a public safety issue absolutely," he said. "It is one of the main thoroughfares. At 10 to four in the afternoon, there would have been a fair bit of traffic coming and going."Abbotsford Mayor George Peary said he was in a police board meeting when he learned of the shooting, near a strip mall that houses a popular Save-On Foods. The public gunplay is extremely troubling, said Mr. Peary.
"It is a matter of great concern to myself and our citizens," he said. "This family of three boys seem intent on wreaking havoc."He pointed to the extraordinary public warning issued by the B.C. Integrated Gang Task Force last May saying the Bacons were targets of death threats and anyone near them could get caught in the crossfire.
"It's frustrating because among our citizens, public safety is a very high priority," Mr. Peary said. "They want to be safe as they move about the community and of course, with bullets flying, there is trepidation." He said the police are doing everything they can to control the violence, including camera surveillance on the Bacon family home on Strathcona Crescent in Abbotsford."They are policed as much as possible," he said, adding he will get a full briefing from police on the incident, likely today.
Jamie Bacon, who is facing a series of gun and drug charges, was briefly detained after the shooting but is not cooperating with investigators. He was later released.
The Mercedes, which was riddled with bullet-holes, was found a few blocks from where the shooting occurred, crashed into the concrete stairs in front of a Keg restaurant. Mr. Bacon had apparently bailed out of the car to flee his attackers.Vinet said he could not identify the intended shooting target, but The Sun has learned it was Jamie, who with middle brother Jarrod is facing 24 firearms and drug counts laid last May 31 -- the same day as the police warning was issued.
"We do have a male well-known to us being questioned," Const. Vinet said before Bacon was released. As one of his bail conditions, Mr. Bacon must live at his parents' Strathcona Court home, where shootings occurred in 2002 and 2006. Eldest brother Jonathan was nearly killed in the 2006 shooting.A Surrey shooting in 2007 also targeted the brothers.Just last Friday, Jamie and his two brothers, as well as an associate, were stopped by Abbotsford Police at the busy Sevenoaks Mall after mall security thought one of them had a gun. No weapon was found, but one of the brothers was wearing body armour.The brothers, who are closely aligned to the Red Scorpion gang, have been the target of death threats by rivals in the United Nations gang. Just three weeks ago, an associate named Dennis Karbovanec was wounded in a New Year's Eve shooting.
