Man sentenced to 12 years for shooting student mistakenly thought to be rival gangster
Victim wounded during planned 2016 ambush in residential area of Surrey, B.C.
A man has been sentenced to 12 years in jail for the attempted murder of a university student who was mistaken for a rival gang member.
Saeed Rana, 25, was sentenced for the crime in B.C. Supreme Court on Friday.
The 19-year-old victim, who can't be identified by order of the court, was shot in an unprovoked attack in Surrey, B.C., on April 4, 2016.
Court heard that Rana, a drug dealer, had tried to lure a rival into an attack.
Four masked men — who were part of the ambush — pulled up beside a student as he parked his father's black BMW in a quiet residential area of Surrey and opened fire shooting more than 20 rounds, court heard.
Rana's 45-calibre Glock jammed as he shot from the SUV at the man he thought was his rival.
Police found 16 bullet holes in the car, but the victim was only hit once, in the thigh.
The victim remains traumatized, fears for his safety and has endured stigma from people who mistakenly believe he has gang connections, Justice Paul Pearlman said Friday.
Pearlman said aggravating factors in the sentencing include the fact that Rana was a boss in a dial-a-dope service that sold heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine.
The fact that the ambush was planned and bullets were fired in a quiet neighbourhood at a student who had no connection to crime were also factors.
Bullets pierced a fence, travelling through a nearby yard and into an alley, the judge said.
Planned retaliation
The judge said Rana, who was 23 at the time of the crime, aimed to retaliate against rival drug dealers who had recently fired bullets into his family home.
He said Rana had turned to drug-dealing in desperation after his violent father abandoned the family. Failing to graduate high school, Rana ended up trying to support his mother and disabled brother on wages from his job at a fast-food franchise.
Pearlman said Rana was apologetic and said he wanted to leave his criminal life behind.
At the time of the shooting, he was on probation and prohibited from having firearms because of a previous assault conviction involving an ex-girlfriend.
Rana was also sentenced to four years and six months for each of two other gun-related charges. Those sentences will be served concurrently, or at the same time, as his sentence for attempted murder.
He has about 10 years left to serve after time-served was calculated.
Surrey RCMP said in a release after the sentencing that the case touched off an "intense and far-ranging investigation," and called on the community to use education and early intervention to prevent such incidents.