Police are investigating after two people were injured in a shooting that occurred on the border of Penticton and Naramata Monday night.
A 31-year-old man is in custody and is scheduled to appear in Penticton court on July 17, while one victim, also 31, was taken to the hospital with serious, but non-life threatening injuries. The police investigation also identified a second person who had suffered minor injuries as a result of the shooting, who was treated and released from the hospital.
RCMP are saying that the shooting was an isolated incident that resulted from an escalating sequence of events between two parties, and that the public is not at risk.
Penticton RCMP responded to reports of shots fired around 10:30 p.m. Monday at a residence in the 2000 block Lindsay Road, just off Naramata road.
Nearby neighbour Phil Quinn said he hasn’t seen anything like this in his 20 years living in the area.
“There was a lot of action last night. A lot of vehicles, a lot of lights on. We didn’t really know what was going on,” Quinn said.
He said that the two men who rented the top floor of the residence police were seen investigating Tuesday seemed to be good friends.
“They come by quite often. They were always quite happy. They stick together a lot and they seem to be really good friends,” Quinn said. “It’s quite surprising. They seem really happy all the time so I’m quite shocked actually that something happened.”
He saw the two men earlier that night on a beach nearby on the property. The two did not seem to be in a dispute according to Quinn.
“I didn’t hear anything I was actually working quite late down at the beach,” Quinn said. “I actually saw them down there around nine o’clock, eight o’clock last night. They were chummin’ down there having a few beers.”
“It’s a really quiet area. There’s only the two houses,” Quinn said. “It’s really, really weird.”
Quinn said the two have lived at the residence for the past couple years, and he believes they worked in the oilfield in Alberta.
People were seen taking dogs away from the residence on Tuesday. They were friends of the residents according to police.