Chilliwack man detained after Sunday shooting leaves victim in critical condition – BC
A Chilliwack, British Columbia man is in custody after a shooting left another man in stable but critical condition on Sunday night.
After more than 36 hours of silence over the incident, RCMP said they closed Chilliwack Lake Road for about three hours around 6 p.m., scouring the neighborhood and nearby forest with dogs looking for the suspect.
A 48-year-old man was arrested around 8.30pm on Sunday and is now charged with aggravated a*sault and intentionally discharging a firearm. A search of property on Chilliwack Lake Road, southeast of Vedder Road, also resulted in the seizure of several firearms.
“Police would like to thank the public, especially neighbours, for their patience as we worked to bring this high-risk situation to a safe end,” the sergeant said. Krista Vrolyk said in Tuesday’s press release.
“Investigators believe this is an isolated incident and there is no ongoing threat to the public.”
At this time, there is no evidence that the shooting is linked to ongoing gang disputes, Vrolyk added.
The 35-year-old victim suffered a gunshot wound to the leg that appears to be life-threatening and is still in hospital, according to the RCMP.
Meanwhile, locals wondered what happened on Sunday evening that caused local traffic to slow down for hours.
Kevin Hodge told PKBNEWS he was selling hot dogs at an outdoor stand when he first heard the sirens wailing.
“I stayed inside and locked the doors just in case,” he said. “It would be nice to know in more detail (what happened).”
Cathy Warkentin said she was walking the dogs around 8.30pm when she also decided to take shelter indoors.
“The neighbors came running and said, ‘Go home quickly, there’s an armed man on the loose.’ So we turned around and went back,” she recalls. “It was scary.”
RCMP officers could be seen outside the Chilliwack Lake Road home on Monday, which was cordoned off with yellow police tape. Investigators set up numbered markers in the field and bagged and tagged the evidence.
A black forensic identification tent was also set up outside.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Chilliwack Detachment at 604-792-4611 and case reference 2023-36874. Anyone wishing to remain anonymous can contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
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