The area around a motel in Kamloops has been cleared, say police, after officers earlier blocked off the street following several reports of shots being fired on Friday morning.
Kamloops RCMP say gunfire rang out at the Hospitality Inn, around 7 a.m., with initial reports indicating a group of individuals were seen in a parking lot when the gunfire erupted.
Police say one person sustained a non-life-threatening gunshot wound and was being treated at Royal Inland Hospital.
Columbia Street West was temporarily blocked and three nearby schools underwent a temporary lockdown, with police saying the area was contained for investigation and safety purposes. They also said officers weren’t able to locate any suspects.
A man staying at the inn with his 18-year-old son said the sound of gunfire interrupted their morning routine.
“Just getting ready for school, cooking breakfast for my son and then the shots started happening,” Rob Chrystall, who attends Thompson Rivers University, told CJFC Today.
“They were already there and they told me to put my hands up and walk toward them, just for precautionary purposes.”
Chrystall said the gunfire included “two, probably, shotgun blasts, I would say, and three shots that were small arms – .22 or nine-millimetre, I would say.
“Something small,” Chrystall continued. “There was yelling and screaming and the F-bomb, and then somebody said, ‘Drop the gun’ a couple of times and then the shots started.”
If you witnessed this incident, or have any information regarding the suspects, you are asked to call the Kamloops RCMP or Crimestoppers at 1-800-222-2477.