A break-in at a gun club in central Alberta, which was followed by a shooting, led to area residents being told to stay in their homes and lock the doors on Friday. Now, two Calgarians are facing a lengthy list of charges in relation to this case and a series of break-ins at area golf courses over the past several weeks.
Residents living west of Carstairs, Alta., were told to shelter in place for about two hours Friday morning as RCMP searched for two armed suspects in the area.
In an update Monday afternoon, Didsbury RCMP said the ordeal began just after 5 a.m. Friday, when they were called to a break and enter at the Silver Willow Farm Sporting Club. The gun club is located west of Carstairs, in Mountain View County.
Police said a “property representative” from Silver Willow was notified by an on-site security camera that two suspects were at the business. The person drove to the gun club where they saw two people get into a Volkswagen hatchback car and attempt to flee the area, according to police.
The RCMP said the VW car got stuck, and the male suspect got out of the vehicle with a long-barrelled firearm and pointed it at the property representative. The suspect then ran towards the person’s vehicle and shot at them, hitting the vehicle. The property representative was not injured.
RCMP Staff Sgt. Stephen Browne said it’s never recommended to confront a suspect, especially when a suspect appears to be armed.
“Being in the business that they are – well versed in firearms and obviously being around firearms that are discharged – it’s quite a different story when they’re being discharged in your direction. And unless you’ve been in that type of situation before, you’ll never know how you react until it happens,” Browne said. “In this particular case, he reacted very well, which enabled him to get out of there without being shot.”
Residents between Township Road 302 and Highway 580, and between Range Road 15 and Range Road 20, were asked to shelter in place and lock their doors. The area is located just west of Carstairs, which is about a half-hour drive north of Calgary.
With residents holed up in their homes, officers continued to search for the suspects.
“It was at that point my members were in close proximity to this location, attended, were able to set up containment around the quarter section, which resulted in the request and deployment of our emergency response team,” the Didsbury RCMP detachment commander said.
Browne said a remote aerial surveillance unit came in from Red Deer to support, as well as a canine unit and other members from Olds and Airdrie RCMP detachments. He said the large police response was called in due to the vast area of land that RCMP needed to contain.
“We located those two individuals in a wooded area not far from that property. They were taken in custody without further incident,” Browne said.
“It was at that point the linkage between whom Cochrane (RCMP) was looking for and the potential individuals involved in this particular incident were linked (to other alleged crimes), but not until they were taken into custody, we learned their identities.”
The gate to the gun club was visibly damaged, and a black hatchback was towed away from the scene on Friday.
Kyle Nechiporenko, a 37-year-old Calgary resident, has been charged with attempted murder, discharging a firearm with intent, failing to comply with a probation order, possession of a firearm without holding a licence, failing to comply with a weapons prohibition order, using a disguise to commit an indictable offence and driving while unauthorized.
Soleil Wenas, a 20-year-old Calgary resident, has been charged with possession of a firearm without holding a licence and failing to comply with release order conditions.
Both Nechiporenko and Wenas are also charged with break and enter with intent to steal a firearm, weapon dangerous to the public peace (bear spray), using a firearm while committing an indictable offence, using an imitation firearm while committing an indictable offence, theft under $5,000, mischief under $5,000 and possessing break and enter instruments.
Nechiporenko and Wenas were taken into custody. Wenas appeared in court in Didsbury on Monday morning. Nechiporenko is scheduled to appear in Calgary court on Wednesday morning.
Golf course break-ins
The pair charged in the gun club break-in is also charged in connection with a series of golf course break and enters, the RCMP said on Monday.
Several RCMP detachments have been investigating the break-ins, which happened in January and February, at golf courses and other businesses in several counties surrounding Calgary.
The Cochrane crime reduction unit was assigned the investigation on Jan. 30. A search warrant was executed at a home in northwest Calgary on Friday, where police said they found stolen property.
A female was arrested at the home, according to police.
The following items were seized from the home:
- laptops
- motorcycles
- firearms
- identification and identification counterfeiting equipment
- Canadian currency
- safes
- golf accessories
RCMP said they had evidence to link three suspects to the break and enters, which happened at the following locations:
- Silver Willow Sporting Club in Mountain View County
- Cottonwood Golf & Country Club in Foothills County
- Sirocco Golf Course in Foothills County
- Redwood Meadows Golf Course in Tsuut’ina
- Priddis Greens Golf Course in Foothills County
- River Spirit Golf Course in Calgary
- Winter Green Golf Course in Rocky View County
- Water Valley Saloon in Water Valley
- Serenity Golf Club in Rocky View County
- Kananaskis Country Golf Course in Kananaskis
- Livingstone Golf Course in Rocky View County
RCMP said Nechiporenko and Wenas were both charged in relation to these break-ins and appeared in court in Didsbury on Monday morning.
The female who was arrested at the house was charged with break and enter and possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000. She was released and is scheduled to appear in court in Cochrane in March. The RCMP did not release her name.
–with files from Adam Toy, Global News
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