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Abbotsford Police host community gang forum

Event on Friday, May 12 to be held mainly in Punjabi
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This was the scene in late March following the fatal shooting of Jaskarn Lally on Chase Street. The Lower Mainland gang conflict is the topic of a forum this Friday in Abbotsford.

The Abbotsford Police Department (APD) holds a community forum on Friday, May 12 to discuss the current Lower Mainland gang conflict.

The session, to be held mainly in Punjabi, begins at 7 p.m. at W. J. Mouat Secondary, 32355 Mouat Dr.

Local police first began reporting three years ago that a gang conflict was underway in the area and involved two groups of primarily South Asian men battling for drug turf.

At that time, they called it the Townline Hill conflict, named for the area of west Abbotsford where the violence was mainly occurring.

However, in recent months, police have said the local issues are part of the larger gang conflict going on across the Lower Mainland.

The conflict has resulted in numerous shootings and more than half a dozen murders in Abbotsford alone.

Most recently, these include the fatal shootings of Jaskarn Lally, 20, on March 24 in the 3500 block of Chase Street and Satkar Sidhu, 23, on Feb. 20 on Steelhead Court.

The APD last held a Punjabi-based gang forum in April 2015, drawing so many people – more than 500 – that people had to be turned away at the door.

The forum on Friday will include information about the End Gang Life program, as well as resources for parents and families.



Vikki Hopes

About the Author: Vikki Hopes

I have been a journalist for almost 40 years, and have been at the Abbotsford News since 1991.
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