The RCMP are investigating a shooting incident in Richmond Thursday night that sent several people to hospital in the Lower Mainland city.

Police say some of the victims are in serious condition after a number of shots were fired in Dover Park, just off the Westminster Highway at Lynas Lane.

RCMP spokesman Cpl. Peter Thiessen said it's not clear how many people were shot because some of the victims may have decided not to go to hospital.

He said police are also trying to figure out how many gunmen were involved.

"It would be safe to say more than one shooter, but how many, it's not clear. How many weapons were involved, again, that's not clear."

One man was led away in handcuffs by police at Richmond Hospital.

Residents surprised

The incident shocked some residents of the usually quiet suburban neighbourhood, which was cordoned off with yellow police tape.

Yvette Wu was surprised to come home to discover the streets turned into a crime scene.

"I would have never guessed in a million years that this would happen, to be honest. I would have never thought there'd be a shooting. There's never anything exciting going on here that's exciting like this."

Qendrim Rashiti, who lives behind the park, said he never expected a shooting so close to his home, and was surprised when he heard loud bangs at about 7 p.m.

"We were inside the house and we just heard a lot of gunshots. Then we went to look outside but we didn't hear anything so we thought they were fireworks."

Thiessen said the residents should not be afraid for their safety as the shooting incident was not random, and was aimed at someone specific.