Mangat jury hears of summer of violence

The jury at the Ranjit Mangat murder trial were told a tale of molotov cocktails, drive-by shootings and feuding families Thursday, as a gang cop related the violence that overtook Millwoods in the summer of 2000.

Michael DeBrocke and Usman Pervez are charged with first-degree murder in Mangat's death. The Crown alleges that Pervez paid DeBrocke $20,000 because he believed Mangat played a role in the drive-by shooting of his younger brother, Adnan Pervez, in December 2000.

Mangat was shot in front of his house in March 2001.

Const. Kevin Brezinski, with the Edmonton gang unit, testified that the Mangat and Pervez families were at war in 2000. He said Mangat's house was firebombed, as were the homes of his friends. A friend of the Pervez family was shot outside a nightclub.

Brezinski said Pervez's father was confronted at gunpoint by the Mangat group and the next day the Mangat home was sprayed with gunfire.

The officer said he was investigating the incidents and often spoke to Usman Pervez, who once stated that "the war has just begun," although he insisted he wasn't behind it and called it stupid.

Brezinski testified that the Mangat and Pervez families called a truce, but in October, Adnan Pervez was charged with assaulting a friend of Mangat's. Two months later, Adnan Pervez was murdered.

Usman Pervez said he would let police handle it, Brezinski said, but he also added "if you don't, then we'll decide what to do."

From May 8, 2003: Mangat had little chance of surviving: doctor