Officers in Nanaimo are searching for a suspect after one person was injured in what appears to be a targeted shooting Thursday night.
The incident happened at a home at the corner of Lost Lake Road and Laguna Way around 8 p.m.
A man in his early 30s was treated at the scene for non-life-threatening injuries by paramedics, then taken to the hospital in an ambulance.
Police say he was shot in the leg.
Neighbours in the area told CHEK News that in the moments prior to the shooting, a man was seen approaching the front door of the home with a SkipTheDishes bag. Moments later, he could be seen running away and was picked up by a vehicle that had initially dropped him off.
Investigators say they have good suspect and vehicle descriptions but for the time being are not sharing that with the public.
A woman who lives several doors down said she was in her backyard when a woman came scrambling over the fence at around 8 p.m.
“She was crying, shaking and she couldn’t say what happened, she just told us please save me because somebody pointed a gun to my head and my boyfriend pushed me out from the door to save me,” said Halina Grzyb.
She stayed with neighbours for about 15 minutes until police came to take her away. Neighbours said the woman told them the shooter was demanding money. None of the witness accounts have been confirmed by police.
“It is shocking, it’s not the kind of neighbourhood that anything like that usually happens in,” said Nora Jean Lind who lives in the area.
RCMP say this appears to be an isolated incident.
“What we can say now is we believe this is an isolated incident. There’s always a substantial risk though when somebody uses a firearm and hasn’t been apprehended yet,” said Nanaimo RCMP Reserve Const. Gary O’Brien.
BC Emergency Health Services says the man was transported by ground ambulance, then by air ambulance to the hospital.
“BCEHS received a call at 8:10 pm to respond to a shooting incident in a residential area in the 4600 block of Laguna Way,” BCEHS told CHEK News in an emailed statement.
“BCEHS dispatched two ground ambulances and an air ambulance. One patient in serious condition was cared for by paramedics who transported the patient to hospital first by ground, then by air ambulance.”
If anyone has information related to this incident, you are asked to contact the Nanaimo RCMP non-emergency line at 250-754-2345, and quote file # 2022-23386.
Photo Courtesy Amanda Morrison
Jeff Lawrence
