Nanaimo RCMP are investigating what they’re calling a targeted shooting after a man was shot in the city’s south end Sunday.
Initial calls at 1 p.m. were for shots fired into a derelict house at 515 Nicol St., near Needham Street.
Two shots were fired through the back window of the home, known to be used by marginalized people involved in Nanaimo “drug culture,” RCMP said in a news release Tuesday.
Arriving officers searched the home but did not find anyone.
About 20 minutes later, police were notified of a man at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital who had arrived with non-life threatening injuries consistent with being shot. He was treated and later released.
The investigation led police to arrest a man and woman found driving southbound on Nicol Street. The pair is known to police, RCMP said, and they were released from custody while the investigation continues. Their vehicle was also seized.
Police say the shooting is a “targeted isolated event” and that the man and woman arrested appear to known the man who was shot.
“The use of firearms, however, and the blatant disregard for the safety of individuals in our community is troubling, and can be attributed to the drug culture in Nanaimo and the violence associated with it,” Nanaimo RCMP spokesman Const. Gary O’Brien said in a statement.
Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call RCMP at 250-754-2345 and quote file number 2021-38031.
Kendall Hanson
