A man is recovering in hospital from serious injuries after shots were fired at a homeless camp in Nanaimo.
Emergency services personnel rushed to the 100 block of Terminal Avenue at about 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 14, after a report of “several shots being heard near a large homeless encampment across from the old White Spot,” said reserve Const. Gary O’Brien, RCMP spokesperson.
Kathleen Lasby, who lives on Mill Street and was one of the people who called 911, said she was home doing homework and heard what sounded like a high-powered pellet gun being fired from a homeless encampment near the Millstone River through the day. The rapid fire shots, she said, caused birds to scatter out of the bushes across the ravine.
“This encampment has been here for a while, as we all know, and today was particularly more active,” Lasby said. “We hear a lot of yelling and stuff going on there.”
But in the late afternoon Wednesday she heard what sounded like shots followed by screams.
“I heard a shot, like a handgun or some kind of shot, and then a boom, like a loud gun … and then I heard crying and screaming,” Lasby said.
First responders located a man who had sustained a life-threatening injury and he was transported from the scene by B.C. Ambulance Service paramedics. According to a social media post from Nanaimo Fire Rescue, the incident, along the bank of the Millstone River, involved a technical rescue.
“Emergency first-aid was applied by our members until he was stabilized and taken to hospital, ” O’Brien said. “He remains in hospital in stable condition. Doctors actually commented that if it wasn’t for the emergency first-aid applied by our members, that individual may have died.”
Two people were detained at the scene in relation to the incident, and officers also recovered a gun.
“During the investigation two individuals were taken into custody and they remain in custody,” O’Brien said. “No charges have been laid in relation to the shooting.”
RCMP Police Dog Services also responded and found a firearm, but it is unknown if the weapon is related to Wednesday’s incident.
The camp was also the location of a shooting earlier this year when a business owner was seriously injured while trying to recover stolen items.
“We understand the public is concerned about violence at homeless encampments,” O’Brien said. “We’re working with our outreach agencies to do the best we can to address the violence and hold accountable those responsible for these acts.”
O’Brien said investigators are back at the scene today, June 15, continuing to look for additional evidence.
As emergency services were dealing with the shooting on Wednesday afternoon, additional emergency crews were dispatched to a report of a woman stabbed in a separate incident in downtown Nanaimo on Victoria Road.
“Her injuries were minor in nature,” O’Brien said. “She was unco-operative. So, that’s being investigated and no suspects were identified in that incident … Regardless of whether the victim’s unco-operative, we still have to address the fact that this person reported being stabbed and we have to find out what happened there.”
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