Latest restaurant shooting baffles Vancouver police

Last Updated: Monday, January 21, 2008 | 10:23 PM PT

CBC News

After interviewing hundreds of witnesses, Vancouver police have no clear suspect descriptions following what they describe as the latest targeted shooting death to occur outside a restaurant in the city.

Vancouver police said Monday they are still seeking suspect descriptions in the city's latest restaurant shooting.
(CBC)

Richard Scarpino, 37, and an unidentified man were shot dead Saturday night just moments after they arrived at the upscale Gotham Steakhouse & Cocktail Bar, where Scarpino was planning to attend his engagement party.

Scarpino, who was released from jail last week, was sentenced in 1998 for importing cocaine from Colombia. In 1993, at age 23, he also shot and killed a man in a Los Angeles mall.

Police are saying the dispute was over money and possibly drugs.

On Saturday, Scarpino and his fiancée pulled up outside Gotham in a black Land Rover with two friends. Moments later, gunmen raced across the street and began shooting. Scarpino and another man died.

Vancouver Police Const. Tim Fanning said Monday police are still looking for suspects in the Gotham restaurant shooting deaths.
(CBC)

But after interviewing 200 people, Vancouver police said they still have no clear descriptions of the two suspects.

"We end up with somebody described as anywhere from Asian to Caucasian, from five feet six inches to six feet four inches, to skinny to big build," said Const. Tim Fanning of the Vancouver Police Department.

Police have not released any details about the second man. Police say this incident is the latest targeted shooting to occur outside a Vancouver restaurant.

However, police have laid charges against Lawrence Brinley Wilson, 47, who was inside the restaurant when shots were fired outside.

Wilson has been charged with possession of a restricted firearm, carrying a concealed weapon, unauthorized possession of a firearm, and possession of a controlled substance.

The attack comes just four months after an Indo-Canadian man and his girlfriend were shot by masked gunmen who opened fire outside the Quattro restaurant in Kitsilano.

A month earlier, two people died and six were wounded in a restaurant shooting at the Fortune Happiness eatery in East Vancouver.

Restaurateurs concerned

Worried that gang activity is getting out of control in Vancouver, the Gotham shooting has prompted some of the city's restaurants to take matters into their own hands.

On Saturday night, an informal message to inform others about the incident was sent out to restaurateurs throughout the city, said Ian Tostenson, President of the B.C. Restaurant and Foodservices Association.

Other downtown eateries, including the Yaletown-based Glowbal and Goldfish Pacific Kitchen restaurants reacted by voluntarily closing.

Tostenson says his association is planning to educate restaurateurs on how to spot a gang member, and what to do if there is suspicious activity going on near their establishment.

Police say crimes not random

Meanwhile, Vancouver Police Chief Jim Chu is trying to reassure the public that the city is still safe in the wake of the Gotham shooting.

He says the crime wasn't random and the victims were known to police.

Chu says these types of crimes are difficult to solve because gang members are experienced criminals who have been through the court process, making them more of a challenge for police.

In an interview, Scarpino's brother Mario told the CBC that his brother was trying to make a fresh start after getting out of the gang scene.

With files from the Canadian Press