Vancouver Police are hoping someone may be able to identify what they are calling a “vehicle of interest” in connection with a random shooting that left a skateboarder with a bullet hole through his hand in East Vancouver last month.
Police say just before 3 a.m. on Oct. 4, a 21-year-old Vancouver man was riding his skateboard on Windemere Street near East 19th Avenue when he heard a loud bang as a vehicle drove past him.
A neighbour heard the man screaming in pain and called 9-1-1. He was treated for the gunshot wound through his hand and released from hospital.
Investigators say the victim, who Global News has spoken with after the incident, is not known to police, and there is no obvious motive.
WATCH: A seemingly random shooting in Vancouver has left a man with a .22 caliber bullet hole through his hand. As Aaron McArthur reports, it could have easily been worse.
The victim told Global News he saw a flash, followed by a bang, and thought someone had thrown a firecracker at him. The projectile missed his neck and head by just a few centimetres.
The initial search of the area in darkness did not show evidence of the shooting. A bullet casing was found the next morning and in an additional search for evidence, police recovered a bullet lodged in a parked vehicle.
Police are now releasing a set of surveillance images from a nearby camera showing the “vehicle of interest.”
The red-coloured vehicle is believed to be a newer model Mazda 3.
Anyone who may have seen the vehicle in the area at the time of the shooting is asked to call the VPD’s Major Crime Section at 604-717-2541 or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-8477.