Shots were fired at a Surrey, B.C., radio station early Tuesday morning, Global News has learned.
Former MLA and Swift 1200 AM host Jinny Sims confirmed to Global News that staff arrived at the building on 76 Avenue in Surrey to find evidence of a shooting.
Sims told Global News that no one was inside the building at the time.
Sims says she is “shaken” by what happened and said that everyone has the right to have a safe workplace.
“Well, this is my workplace,” Sims told Global News.
“I got a phone call to say that gunshots had been fired at the building. So I’m here right now and the police has arrived and they’re doing their investigation.”
Surrey police confirmed they are investigating a shooting at that location, but it is in the early stages. No motive for the shooting has been released at this time.
Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton, media relations officer with the Surrey Police Service, said they received a 911 call around 11 a.m. from a staff member saying they believed their business had been shot at.
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He said they are still trying to determine what time the shooting happened.
“At this time, we believe the incident to be extortion-related and our Extortion Task Force will be taking over the case,” Houghton added.
“Surrey police and other police agencies have spoken with the business owner in the past and that’s what leads us to believe this is extortion-related.”
Houghton said that, as of Sept. 22, there were 48 reports of extortion-related incidents in the City of Surrey.
“It’s very concerning, it’s very concerning,” Sims said.
“This is a media and to make this kind of an attack on media seems unthinkable to me. And yes, like anybody else, I am shaken that we have people who would do this.”
Sims said she believes this shooting might be connected to the recent string of extortion attempts across Canada. Swift Radio’s most recent segment covered extortion cases and the Bishnoi Gang being declared a terrorist organization with guest Surrey Police Service’s Chief Const. Norm Lipinski.
She says she is calling on all levels of government to put an end to the extortion threats.
This recent incident shows that creating a task force is not enough, Sims added.
“Everybody who goes to work should have a right to a safe workplace,” she said.
“This is my workplace that other people have come and shot at.”
In July, Spice Radio rebranded as Swift 1200 AM as owner Shushma Datt and her son Sudhir Datta stepped away from the station.
Swift 1200 AM is led by Devinder Singh Benipal, Nimmi Daula, Sims and Sameer Kaushal.
More to come.
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