A Surrey man has been found guilty of attempted murder in a 2016 drive-by shooting in Nanaimo.
A B.C. Supreme Court judge found Armaan Singh Chandi guilty on six charges, including attempted murder, using a restricted firearm and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle.
The shooting happened on March 1, 2016. Vancouver Island University student Motaz Alharbi had been studying for an exam on campus. He left for home just before 4 p.m., when a blue Mazda 3 pulled up beside him and someone sent a “volley of shots” out of the passenger window with a handgun, according to court documents. Witnesses said the shooter was wearing a black balaclava.
Alharbi was luckily unhurt, but the assailants sped off — starting a high-speed chase that finally ended in Duncan, where police arrested Chandi and his co-accused, Inderpal Singh Aujla.
The judge said that if Chandi and Aujla had intended some kind of “hit” related to criminal activity, they had attacked the wrong man.
Chandi will return to court for sentencing March 13.