A man has been killed in an apparent targeted drive-by shooting near Ross Street and 61st Avenue in Vancouver, according to police.

Const. Jana McGuinness said officers have launched an intensive search for a suspect vehicle after the victim was gunned down Wednesday morning, marking the city's fourth homicide of 2012.

Witnesses told CTV News that they heard six or seven shots fired at the man, who was sitting in his vehicle at the time. They say he slumped over in his seat and fell into the street.

Police have not identified the victim, but numerous sources say he was known gangster Ranjit Singh Cheema, who was recently released from a U.S. prison after serving a five-year sentence for his involvement in a cocaine and heroin smuggling ring.

Neighbours say he was living in his parents' basement in a nearby home. Cheema survived another attempt on his life in 1995, when he was shot five times. He was also an associate of some of B.C.'s most notorious gangsters, including Bindy Johal, who was shot dead in a nightclub in 1998, and Mike Brar, who was gunned down at a wedding reception in 2000.

The 1100-block of East 61st Avenue has been cordoned off while officers with the Vancouver Police Department Major Crime Unit investigate.

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