SEE MORE PHOTOS HERE METRO VANCOUVER - There were signs last summer that former security guard Angus Mitchell, who died in a shootout with police Wednesday, was unstable and aggressive, a former co-worker says. Mitchell was working at the time for Genesis Security in Vancouver, but exploded at former colleague Nikan Kaviani in an unprovoked attack. “He gave me a ferocious look,” Kaviani said. “This guy had murderous intent. You could see it in his eyes.” His former co-workers at Genesis were all in contact Wednesday after learning that Mitchell was a suspect in three shootings, two of them fatal, and had died in a confrontation with police. “It is actually shocking,” Kaviani said. “But we did say at one point ‘I wonder if he’ll go Columbine?’” RCMP said Wednesday morning that Mitchell, the target of a police manhunt, was “emotionally unstable and unpredictable.” That appears to be bolstered by a volatile posting he left on Facebook, ranting against a former boss at another security company. Mitchell, 26, parked his older-model van along an isolated gravel road in a rural section of Maple Ridge sometime late Tuesday or early Wednesday while police frantically searched for him in connection with three shootings in just 48 hours. But in this age of instant news online, it was just an hour after the RCMP’s unusual public appeal to watch out for Mitchell that someone in Maple Ridge called 911 to report seeing the suspect’s van on 216 St., just north of 132 Ave. Police officers descended on the country road Wednesday morning, using megaphones to coax the former security guard — who was armed with a rifle — out of the van. There was an exchange of gunfire and Mitchell was hit, but no officers were injured. Anona Holgate was on her Maple Ridge horse farm, a short distance from where Mitchell’s van was found, when she heard the sound of a helicopter flying very low just before noon Wednesday. “I could hear the chopper first. The dishes were rattling, and it was loud and low. I thought I could hear a shot,” she said in an interview outside her home. “Then there were, maybe, three separate shots, and then a whole bunch of shots at once — maybe eight in a row.” Mitchell was pronounced dead at 1:23 p.m. in hospital. Mitchell has “come up on police radar in the past,” RCMP said, but he has not been charged with anything. However, police described him Wednesday as “a person of interest” in a double homicide inside Tran’s Royal Oak Sushi House in Burnaby at 9:30 p.m. Sunday. Owner Huong (Andy) Tran and a female employee were killed; neither were known to police. Less than 48 hours later, the suspect’s former landlord was shot in front of his house late Tuesday afternoon on Gilpin Crescent in Burnaby. The injured man had rented another property, in Vancouver, to Mitchell in the past. Police said Mitchell was wanted in connection with the attempted murder of the 51-year-old, who survived the shooting but is in hospital in serious condition.

Howard Wong was trimming his trees at his house on Gilpin Crescent when his neighbour was shot. “I heard two sounds, like ‘bang, bang.’ Two big noises,” he said. He at first assumed the noise was a car backfiring, but then his wife leaned out the window to say their neighbour was yelling for help in his front yard. Brenda Wong called 911, while her husband ran across the road. “I saw the guy lying down under the tree there. I came over there and said, ‘You got hurt?’ He said, ‘Somebody shot me. A double shot,’” said Howard Wong, who did not see anyone running or driving away from his neighbour’s house after the shooting. He said his neighbour — a Mandarin-speaking man who lives with his family in the house — was covered in blood. The crime spree raised RCMP concerns about anyone who had had a personal conflict with Mitchell in the past — they feared he might have been targeting those with whom he had a grudge. On his Facebook page, Mitchell posted a rant May 4 about colleagues at Victoria-based Themis Security Services, calling one an “insignificant lowly little punk who masquerades as a successful person.” He went on to write that the person, whom he identified as “Mirko,” did not deserve his attention and ended the rant with “f--- you bastard.” Mirko Filipovic, CEO and president of Themis, said Mitchell worked for his company as a contractor about three times, with the most recent job about four weeks ago. “We’ve been told we should take certain safety and security precautions for ourselves and our family,” he said Wednesday morning as he set out to meet with Victoria police. After searching for Mitchell overnight Tuesday, police issued an urgent alert at 9 a.m. Wednesday, saying anyone who has had a dispute with the suspect needed to be “extremely cautious about their personal safety,” including former co-workers, employers, landlords and roommates. Insp. Tim Shields said Mitchell was believed to be armed with a rifle with a scope. Mitchell was the legal owner of the hunting rifle and it appeared to have been purchased in B.C. within the last six months. RCMP issued photos of Mitchell, a gun similar to his, and a green 1994 Ford Aerostar van like the one he was driving and presumably hiding out in. Shields warned the public not to approach him if he was spotted and instead call 911. An hour after the RCMP alert was issued, a citizen phoned 911 at 10 a.m. to say a green van was parked on the rural Maple Ridge road. “We are extremely grateful for the very quick work from the media and for the watchful eyes of the public,” Shields said. About a dozen local RCMP officers set up surveillance on the van with Mitchell inside, and called in at least 10 emergency task force officers, a dog unit and the RCMP helicopter for backup, said Ridge Meadows RCMP Supt. Dave Walsh. In a period of five to 10 minutes, police tried to speak to Mitchell using megaphones and he did get out of the van.