Vancouver Police have identified the man who was fatally shot in a Metro Vancouver suburb on Monday as Randynesh Raman Naicker, 34, of Burnaby — a known high-level gang member in B.C.

Naicker was shot by a masked gunman in the parking lot outside a Starbucks on Queens Street in Port Moody, northeast of Vancouver, at about 4:45 p.m. PT Monday.

"First, we just heard the sound of the gun," said a woman who worked in a restaurant across the street from the shooting scene.

"Then we looked over and there was a man who had a ski mask on and a handgun. He kept on repeatedly shooting the person and then he got into a car."

The woman said the man ran down the alley, followed quickly by an SUV, which was being driven by another man. The SUV quickly sped away.

Naicker fell next to a parked grey Infiniti SUV, which had a shattered driver's side window. A discarded pistol nearby on the ground.

The body of the shooting victim is covered by a white sheet beside a grey SUV. (Shane MacKichan/CBC)

Witnesses said the victim appeared to have died within minutes of the execution-style attack.

There were no other injuries.

Naicker is Port Moody's second homicide victim of 2012.

The Vancouver Police Department was called in to assist in the investigation, which includes determining whether the shooting is related to the gang slaying of Gurbinder Singh Toor at a Port Moody recreation centre in May.

Spokesman Const. Lindsey Houghton said that in both cases, it's extremely fortunate innocent bystanders were not hurt.

"The people who are committing these crimes show a complete disregard for the safety of human life," Houghton said.

With files from the CBC's Meera Bains and Mychaylo Prystupa