June 6 update: 'We lost a great kid,' family friend says of teenage shooting victim

Two people found gunned down at the side of a rural road in Surrey, B.C. Monday night were both teenage boys, according to police.

The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team has identified the victims as 16-year-old Jaskarn Singh Jhutty, who went by Jason, and 17-year-old Jaskaran Singh Bhangal, who went by Jesse.

Neither of the boys had a history with law enforcement, but Cpl. Frank Jang said it's too early to say definitively whether they had any ties to drugs or gangs.

"They weren't known to police. But they were known to families. They were known to friends," Jang told reporters Tuesday.

"They are 16- and 17-year-old children that were once here in the community and they are now dead. So we want to find the people that are responsible for this and hold them to account for what they've done."

The day after the shooting, police were seen gathered outside Frank Hurt Secondary School. Students told CTV News that both Jhutty and Bhangal used to attend, and were friends with each other.

The teenagers' bodies were found on 40th Avenue between 184th and 192nd streets at around 10:30 p.m. Monday, triggering a heavy police response in the area.

An ambulance also attended the scene, but left without transporting any patients.

Witnesses later told CTV News they heard as many as eight gunshots in the area before seeing two vehicles speed off.

"Like a string of firecrackers – bang, bang, bang, bang – that's what it was. And then two cars went roaring by there," said Brian Randall.

The quiet road, which his lined with just a handful of homes, remained cordoned off with police tape and covered with evidence markers Tuesday morning.

Even before the victims were confirmed to be youths, neighbours said the grim discovery was unnerving.

"It bothers me, yeah. I have grandchildren. I have younger kids, too," said Lori Anderson, who lives nearby. "It's a dark road at night."

About 45 minutes before Jhutty and Bhangal's bodies were discovered, firefighters responded to a flaming car in the area of 184 Street and 29A Avenue. Another burning vehicle was found near 177 Street and 93 Avenue at around 11 p.m.

Police haven't confirmed whether the fires are related to the killings, but criminals have been known to burn cars to destroy evidence after targeted shootings in the region.

The crime left many in the city stunned, and Jang urged anyone who knows either of the teenagers, or who has information on their deaths, to come forward and help police with their investigation.

"Every homicide affects us as investigators, whether you're 16 or 60," he said. "But certainly when the victims are … children, it hits a nerve with the community."

With files from CTV Vancouver's Maria Weisgarber and Nafeesa Karim

Homicide investigators have identified the two young men shot and killed in #Surrey as 16 yr old Jaskarn Singh Jhutty (Jason) and 17 yr old Jaskaran Singh Bhangal (Jesse). They were not known to police. Shooting is believed to have been targeted. @CTVVancouver pic.twitter.com/lzgZN59RVy — Maria Weisgarber (@ctv_mariaw) June 5, 2018