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<\/p>\nA woman shot while sleeping in her Surrey home early Sunday morning is now believed to be the first injury linked to an ongoing wave of extortion-related violence in the city, police confirmed.<\/p>\n
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The overnight shooting happened just before 3 a.m. on Oct. 12 at a residence with several people inside.<\/p>\n
According to the Surrey Police<\/a> Service (SPS), multiple shots were fired at the house from a vehicle, with one hitting the victim while she was asleep in bed. The suspects fled the scene moments later.<\/p>\n When officers and paramedics arrived at the scene, they delivered life-saving treatment to the woman, in her mid-20s, who suffered a critical gunshot wound.<\/p>\n Her condition has since been upgraded to serious but stable.<\/p>\n \u201cWe do believe at this time it is linked to extortions,\u201d said Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton with Surrey police.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n Police say the woman does not appear to have been the intended target, and investigators are now working to determine why the home was attacked.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the primary questions our investigators are looking to answer\u2026 is why this house specifically may have been targeted \u2026 and if it even was the intended target,\u201d Houghton said.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t‘Deeply concerning’ rise in extortion\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n While investigators are still working to confirm the motive, police say the incident marks a sharp rise in extortion-related crime in Surrey.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\tGet daily National news<\/p>\n Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is the first time someone has been injured in what we believe is an extortion-linked shooting this year,\u201d Sgt. Houghton said. \u201cIt\u2019s deeply concerning\u2026 this is Surrey\u2019s number one public safety priority right now.\u201d<\/p>\n According to SPS, 65 extortion cases have been reported in Surrey so far this year, with 35 involving gunfire.<\/p>\n Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n The majority, police say, have targeted residents and business owners including many from the South Asian community, with threats, demands for money, and acts of violence or intimidation.<\/p>\n Police believe that both organized crime groups and copycat offenders are involved and say some may be seeking online notoriety by taking public credit for acts of violence.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve seen competing groups falsely take credit online just to generate fear,\u201d Houghton said.<\/p>\n Extortion cases began to spike in Surrey in late April and May, part of a troubling trend that mirrors similar incidents reported in Edmonton, Peel Region, and other parts of Canada in recent years.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it seems like Surrey and Surrey businesses and homeowners are the targets this year,\u201d added Houghton.<\/p>\n Some victims receive threats via phone, others through social media or anonymous messages. In more extreme cases, properties are shot at or vandalized.<\/p>\n \n\t\tTrending Now\n\t<\/p>\n![\"Get](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760146149_837_national.jpg\")
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