Three Men Arrested Following Double Homicide In East Vancouver: Police

VANCOUVER — Police say three men have been arrested after a kidnapping and the discovery of two bodies in an east Vancouver home.

 

Officers were called to the home around 10 p.m. Saturday and, because of the nature of the call, decided to go inside when they saw the lights were on but that there was no movement inside, said Acting Sgt. Brian Montague, spokesman for the Vancouver Police Department.

 

Police found the bodies of a man and woman in the home, as well as a four-year-old child who was scared, but unharmed.

 

"We found the child hiding in the house from what has been described as a fairly violent scene," Montague said.

 

Officers also found signs suggesting a man had been kidnapped, and Montague said he was rescued Monday afternoon when officers across the Lower Mainland took several people into custody.

 

The deaths and the kidnapping appear to be targeted incidents, he said.

 

The homicide victims have been identified as 29-year-old Samantha Le and 24-year-old Xuan Vanvy Bacao.

 

Both lived in the home with the kidnapping victim and the child, Montague said. He declined to comment on how the pair died or the relationships between the four.

 

Police are now recommending a number of charges against three men in their 20s and are searching for several other suspects, he said.  

 

"This investigation is not over," Montague said.

 

As police apprehended the suspects, two people unrelated to the case were inadvertently injured, he said.

 

 

A woman was hurt when her car was hit by another vehicle and a man was bitten by a police dog, Montague said, adding that the injured were a result of the fast-paced, uncertain situation.

 

"We're dealing with a situation that's unfolding very quickly," he said. "We had an opportunity to rescue the kidnap victim. Unfortunately, sometimes we can't wait. Our goal, obviously, was to rescue that kidnap victim without having a third homicide on our hands."