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Man who shot Surrey teen then turned gun on himself

Coroner identifies person police say is shooter of 13-year-old Surrey girl.
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Members of the police Emergency Response Team prepare to enter the home where a gunman was later found to have taken his own life after shooting a 13-year-old girl.

The man who police say shot a Surrey teenager on Friday went back into her home afterwards and shot himself.

The B.C. Coroner's Service said this week that Alexander Huynh, 36, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

Huynh was known to family members, so when he arrived at the door of their home, 13-year-old Anna Nguyen let him in.

She said Huynh attacked her and then turned the gun on her.

"I just remember a really loud bang and then how my body was numb," Anna told CTV News on Saturday. "Then he left to go to my mom's room and then I grabbed my phone and ran out the back door."

Anna grabbed her cellphone and ran from the home in the 15700 block of 90 Avenue. She was found two blocks away, near Woodlands Park Elementary, where she goes to school.

Police then responded to a fire at the home, where they discovered Huynh's body.

Firefighters quickly extinguished the blaze, but police initially feared someone else was still in the home.

Emergency Response Teams descended on the house, checking for anyone else.

Anna wasn't comfortable telling CTV News why the family friend had shot her, or what he was doing in her mother's room – only saying, "It's a personal matter."

She said the attack was totally unexpected, however, and that Huynh was a friend of her parents who she had no reason to fear.

Area resident Joise Pontes described the neighbourhood as extremely quiet, especially the Nguyen home.

"I've never seen or heard anything from them," Pontes said, adding Friday's events were disturbing.

"It's sad, very sad. I feel so insecure now."

The Surrey RCMP Major Crime Unit is investigating.

kdiakiw@surreyleader.com