Multiple shootings in and around the Merritt area in B.C.’s Southern Interior are being investigated, say RCMP.
According to police, the shootings happened Tuesday morning in Merritt plus to the south near Coldwater and to the north along Mamit Lake Road.
RCMP say they were alerted of the multiple shootings between 5 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.
“Police believe all the incidents are related and targeted,” police said in a statement.
“We are actively investigating what happened,” said Sgt. Josh Roda.
“We do not believe there is any further risk to the public and will have a significant police presence in these areas as we move forward with the investigations.”
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Anyone with information about these shootings is asked to call the Merritt RCMP at 250-378-4262.
Mounties relayed that same message to Merritt Mayor Mike Goetz in a phone call Tuesday morning, Goetz told Global News.
The mayor said he was told there were more than 100 rounds fired, but that no one was hit in the targeted incident.
“At this point, they haven’t given us any more information other than it was a targeted situation,” he explained.
“I guess you could probably put two and two together and it would probably have something to do with the drug trade, I’m quite sure.”
Goetz said Merritt is a small community that doesn’t “really have this activity, and when something like this happens, it’s a little alarming and a little unfortunate.”
“I’m just very glad that no one was injured,” he added.
Asked if Merritt has seen an uptick in crime recently, Goetz said no.
“When we had the flood, we had some looters, but that’s kind of expected when something like a flood happens,” he said. “But normally, we don’t usually see a lot of that here, especially to the point where we have gun violence. This is something quite new for us.”
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