Hit-and-run may be linked to earlier fatal Surrey shooting, police say

Homicide investigators are trying to determine whether a hit-and-run accident that took place minutes after a fatal shooting Saturday night in Surrey, B.C., had anything to do with Metro Vancouver's latest gun violence.

One man was killed and another man injured in the shooting,whichoccurred in a washroom of the Legacy Show Lounge inside the Clover Inn Motor Hotel, near 176th Street and 57th Avenue in Cloverdale, a town centre in Surrey.

Minutes after the shooting, which happened at 11 p.m., a hit-and-run collision took place at the nearby intersection of Highway 10 and 176th Street, RCMP said Monday.

One vehicle was completing a left turn from Highway 10 to travel north on 176th Street when a second vehicle, travelling west on Highway 10, clipped its rear, Cpl. Dale Carr of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team said.

'He was a good guy, and everybody liked him. He was so charismatic and so funny this wasn't supposed to happen.' Rachel Goodine, half-sister of Christopher Roy Whitmee

The second vehicle, described by police as a small, dark-coloured two-door car, continued west on Highway 10 without stopping. There were no reported injuries in the collision.

Police are appealing to the driver of the second vehicle to contact investigators so that they can determine whether he or she was connected with the shooting, Carr said.

"Police are looking to speak to anyone that may have witnessed the hit-and-run. Further, they are appealing to the driver of the hit-and-run to come forward to speak to police," he said.

RCMP have identified the deceased man in the shooting as Christopher Roy Whitmee, 34, but did not release the name of the 28-year-old injured man, who remained in hospital Monday in critical but stable condition.

"Investigators are not yet able to make any links to drugs, gangs or organized crime. However, they are still working on the theory that this incident was a targeted shooting," Carr said.

"Investigators are continuing to work through the theory that one of the two victims may have been a bystander. However, it will be several days or into weeks before we are able to conclusively make that statement."

A man in his early 20s wearing dark clothing, including a dark hooded sweatshirt, was seen fleeing the lounge through the rear of the building moments after the shooting took place, police have said.

Police appeal to witnesses

Investigators have spoken to a number of people who were at the lounge at the time and are askingother witnesses to come forward, Carr said.

Family and friends of Whitmee said they have had a hard time making sense of why the "amazing dad" was gunned down.

Whitmee, an outdoor enthusiast and budding artist, loved his car, The Simpsons and,above all,his daughter, friends said.

"He was really the best dad anyone could ever have," said Lexus Burkholder-Whitmee, Whitmee's nine-year-old daughter.

"I was really, really upset, and I didn't believe it, and every time I just think about it, it doesn't seem real. It just seems like he's going to walk in the door," said Lexus, who appeared strong and resilient on Monday in a CBC Newsinterview together with her mother, Heather Burkholder.

Whitmee remained close friends with Burkholder after they split up eight years ago.

'Great friend, amazing dad'

"He was a great friend to everyone. He was an amazing dad. He loved life and loved people," Burkholder said, holding back tears.

Burkholder said she'll remember Whitmee for his love of Honda Civics, dirt biking and snowboarding.

Whitmee's family said he had only been at thehotel lounge for half an hour and was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"He wasn't involved in any of this gang stuff that's been going on... lately," Whitmee's half-sister Rachel Goodine told CBC News.

"He was in the wrong place at wrong time, and I knew that this was going to happen, that somebody else was going to get shot that wasn't involved in this crap, and I didn't know it was going to be my brother.

"He was a good guy, and everybody liked him. He was so charismatic and so funny," Goodine added."This wasn't supposed to happen."