Surrey MLA Harry Bains devastated by death of nephew

Surrey-Newton MLA Harry Bains says he began last Sunday morning like any other day by checking his Twitter account. Upon hearing the news of yet another shooting in his city, he says his heart immediately felt for the family of the victim.

• Arun Bains, Surrey homicide victim, was nephew of MLA Harry Bains
• Outreach worker urges families connected to recent shootings to speak to police

Bains says he never would have guessed it would be someone so close to him.Bains spoke to On the Coast's Stephen Quinn about the death of his nephew, 22-year oldArunBainsand how his family is reacting to it.

You actually retweeted a tweet that said: "Another day another shooting." Does that fairly describe how you were feeling about the situation playing out in Surrey that morning before you knew it was your nephew?

Yes. I was very angry that at this time a family will mourn another loved one because a person was taken away because of violence.

I was just angry that we haven't been able to put a stop to this.

When you hear it was your own nephew, it is as devastating as it can be. My wife and I were together at another function and the earth just gave away underneath us.

You are experiencing the grief of a family hit by gun violence first-hand. Police have described how callous some of the young men involved in the recent shootings can be. What would you tell them about what the grief of a family is like up close?

This is the first time I am going through such devastating grief. I've never been in this situation before.

We remember Arun when he was born.

My wife and I went to the hospital to pick him up. We saw him raised by very loving and caring parents.

It's just not right when parents are making arrangements to bury their son so young.

Did you or your brother have any idea what he was involved in?

Talking to his parents, they had no indication. The guy wasn't showing signs that police say you should be looking out for: flashing money, flashy clothes, and driving expensive cars. None of that was there.

He would even borrow money because he was attending the University of Victoria as a political science student.

What he was doing outside, there was no way his parents could clue into. Every time we were around him he was the sweetest kid you'd want around you.

How fair was it for the police to come out with a statement that casts aspersions on your nephew the way they did without any specific charge or proof? [Police said Arun Bains was known to them].

I don't know. They may know more. It was brought to my attention last night that when he was studying in Victoria he had a run in with the law.

But kids go through that kind of stuff. The police are doing their job and I'm not blaming them for anything. He may have friends that were involved, it was a very carefully written statement.

It's all speculation. I don't know if he was involved in anything.

Much of this has been happening in your riding. What do you see as the root causes behind this recent series of shootings?

We need to look at the preventative side. The cause no one knows, but the prevention has to be there.

I don't think we have enough resources for parents in the event that they see that their son or daughter is moving towards the wrong direction. They don't have any support to deal with that situation.

You go to school;the teachers and principals don't have the resources to deal with any students who are getting off track. These are good children from good families, they need to get the support at a time when they veer away into the wrong direction.

To listen to the full interview, click audio labelled: MLA Harry Bains grieves over losing nephew