While police are tight-lipped about a shooting incident that occurred last Tuesday at a Squamish Nation residential complex in North Vancouver, a witness told The Outlook her 16-year-old son was targeted by a “drive-by” shooter from a rival group of young men who call themselves the Capilano Reserve Soldiers (CRS).

Police say they arrived at the 5th and Mahon Avenue apartment complex about 7 p.m. Tuesday after residents reported gunfire, and that it appears a group of men in a vehicle took off after one passenger fired shots.

Witnesses reported that two groups of young men had been arguing in the area before the gunfire.

But investigators say they’re not sure whether the shooter aimed to hit someone or simply shot into the air, due to conflicting accounts. No one was injured in the shooting.

Tammy Condo, a mother of seven who resides in the complex, says her teenage boy was shot at and that she knows who did it, and why.

Condo, along with neighbour Tom Baker, were interviewed the afternoon following the shooting as several RCMP officers and CNV firefighters scaled Condo’s apartment looking for 9-millimetre handgun bullets lodged in the wall.

Concerned neighbours up and down the street could be seen peering over at the forensic work site. According to the RCMP a shell casing was found at the scene, but no bullets were recovered.

Condo said her son and his friends have been in conflict with a West Vancouver gang called the Capilano Reserve Soldiers (CRS) for months, and that her son and the 20-year-old man she claims shot at him had a previous disagreement over a girl.

Condo said the CRS has been a threatening presence in the area previous to last week’s shooting, and other complex residents are afraid of the CRS instigating another gunfire incident.

“I don’t feel safe here — there’s 44 (apartment) units and everyone has kids running around,” Condo said. “My son’s not worried because he didn’t die (but) I’m telling him ‘you could of’ ... there’s 20 other members in this gang. Now his life is at risk.”

Condo said her son does not want to talk to police about the incident. She said she has had discipline problems with her boy, but does not consider him to be involved in any gang activity.

“I want to take him away from (the complex) but I guess we won’t get help unless he testifies (against the alleged shooter),” she said.

Condo said the CRS has also threatened to “rush” Tom Baker’s neighbouring unit and beat all the occupants.

“I know (the CRS) are packing knives, guns, machetes, mace — one guy has a sawed-off shot gun,” Condo said. “I hear they like to wear black masks.”

On street signs and post boxes surrounding the Squamish complex and specifically in front of Tammy Condo’s apartment, graffiti-style tags with the letters CRS, with the S represented as a dollar sign, can be seen.

Tom Baker indicated he does not believe the CRS are hardcore street gangsters, although the fact they apparently have weapons is frightening.

“There’s a group from (the Capilano reserve) that don’t like boys from here,” Baker said. “When I was that age we used these to fight,” he added, indicating his two fists.

An elderly woman from the complex overheard Baker talking about the incident and said she recognized the name CRS from graffiti in the surrounding area.

“I’ve seen that sign,” she said. “I hope (police) get them.”

RCMP Const. Michael McLaughlin said police have a good idea who is responsible for the shooting, but they don’t believe it’s the work of an organized street gang.

Asked about the allegations of a CRS attack, McLaughlin returned this statement: “It is not unusual to have loose coalitions of people, especially teenage males, give themselves a name and declare that they are a gang ... Street gangs are typically associated with an economic motive, and some kind of established hierarchy, and I am not aware of such a level of organization for these boys.”

McLaughlin said an investigation of the shooting continues and the RCMP “are certainly concerned with the activities of any person or people who brandish weapons, particularly firearms, without any training in their use or any regard for the safety of others.”

Also included in the investigation are West Vancouver police, the Squamish Nation Peacekeepers and the Integrated Aboriginal Policing Unit.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the North Vancouver RCMP at 604-985-1311 and cite file 2008-26585.