Vancouver police are in possession of a MAC-11 machine pistol equipped with a silencer, which can be linked to several gang shootings in the city and across the region.
"Make no mistake, this is a silent killing machine capable of firing 1,200 rounds a minute," said Insp. Brad Desmarais of the VPD gangs and drugs section yesterday.
A fisherman hooked the gun, packed with a magazine and ammunition inside a waterproof neoprene computer case about two weeks ago as it bobbed in the Fraser River near the north foot of No. 3 Road in Richmond.
"You would've thought that the bad guys would put it in a bag that would sink but we may not be dealing with the sharpest tool," Desmarais said.
The MAC-11, a unique gun capable of spraying bullets like a garden hose with the slightest touch of the trigger, was turned over to Richmond Mounties.
A Richmond officer contacted Vancouver police after realizing investigators had been searching for a similar weapon.
Police have recovered significant forensic evidence from the gun along with a serial number and are in the process of tracing how the outlawed weapon entered Canada with the assistance of American authorities.
Desmarais did not go into specifics about when or where the gun was last fired but said the deadly weapon had been in the water for about 12 hours.
"It is specifically designed for killing people," he said. "There's no other use for it."
Anyone with information about the weapon is asked to call Vancouver police at 604-717-2977 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
