Update: 5:30 p.m.
The evacuation of a Penticton apartment building earlier today was due to RCMP finding explosives on the premises.
Cpl. Don Wrigglesworth described what the RCMP found as “old dynamite taped in a bundle that appeared to be corroding and unstable.” The bundle was found while RCMP were executing a search warrant at the Comox Street apartments where a fatal shooting took place Wednesday morning.
The building residents were evacuated and the scene secured, while the RCMP Explosives Disposal Unit was contacted. Wrigglesworth said a team is coming in from the Lower Mainland to dispose of the explosives this evening.
After disposal is complete, the RCMP will continue their search of the residence to gather evidence on the Wednesday shooting.
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Residents living in an apartment building on Comox Street are being evacuated from their homes, just two days after a man was shot in the complex.
Related: Penticton RCMP investigate possible murder
RCMP are on scene but are not giving details on the situation.
According to Sheridan Cooper who lives in the building there is possibly something hazardous is in a suite or electrical room.
“This neighbourhood has never been really great, this building is not the best,” said Cooper, when asked if she was surprised the building is being evacuated.
It’s unclear when residents will be able to return home. Cooper said residents were told a team from Vancouver had to be called in to inspect the building.
Residents were able to take some belongings from their units before they were evacuated and were told they might be able to return late this evening.
Madison Raabbis moved to Penticton from Red Deer, Alta. hoping to escape violent incidents and the drug culture there.
“I was told this building was fine to live in and there was no problems, which there wasn’t until recently,” she said.
Raabbis said she is paranoid and constantly looking outside her window since the shooting, even with police on patrol of the building overnight. Standing with a small group of residents on the curb of the street near the apartment complex she said there are good people living there.
“There is a woman who has a son that lives with her here, there is a man with a teenage son, a full-time working single dad. There are families here, it’s not a bad building. We are not all criminals, we are not all drug addicts,” said Raabbis. “The majority of people have been fighting and fighting hard to make this a safe building. We complain, document everything - like I said there is families and people with pets living here.”
More to follow.