RCMP in Metro Vancouver have identified one of the victims in the double homicide of a father and his 13−year−old son at their home in Richmond, BC.
Sgt. Timothy Pierotti with the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says 46−year−old Derrek Chen was killed along with his son, who police are not identifying.
Pierotti says police are working to determine a motive for the killings that are believed to have been targeted, and they’re asking anyone who knew Chen to call them.
Pierotti says investigators are also trying to identify the person captured on video leaving the victims’ home at about 8:40 p.m. on Nov. 30, the day of the killings.
He says the footage shows the suspect was wearing a dark coat, a white hat, light blue jeans and a dark−coloured balaclava−style face mask.
Pierotti told a news conference held at the entrance to a playground adjacent to the victims’ home on Goldsmith Drive that investigators would soon be releasing a photo.
He says the suspect headed straight toward the London fields area after leaving the scene, and police are asking anyone who was in the area to contact them.
"We are looking to speak with absolutely everyone who was in that park. There’s a family right now that is going through the unimaginable," Pierotti told media.
He says investigators have done a "thorough canvass" of the area, looking for witnesses and residential security cameras as well as dash camera footage.
The father and son, who were not known to police, were alone in the home at the time of the killings, Pierotti told an earlier news conference.
Other family members were in the home in the hours prior to the killings, but were not at the home when they occurred, he said.
"I believe it was a family member who did call 9−1−1," said Pierotti.