Victoria police are on the hunt for anyone involved in the shooting of a 29-year-old man early Thursday morning.
The shooting took place in the 2800 block of Kiwanis Way, near Hillside Avenue and Cook Street.
“Investigators do not believe that this is a random event, and as such, do not believe the public to be at risk,” Const. Mike Russell said.
Russell said police were at Royal Jubilee Hospital about 12:30 a.m. on an unrelated call when the victim arrived in the emergency ward with a gunshot wound.
The victim, whose injuries were not life-threatening, told officers he had been shot in a basement suite on Kiwanis Way.
Yvonne Gordon, the landlord of the house, said she believes the victim is her male tenant. A man and his girlfriend, both in their late 20s, live in the house with the man’s mother and a child of about seven.
Gordon said she talked to the victim’s girlfriend Thursday morning and the woman said she was at work at the time of the shooting. The girlfriend told Gordon the man took a cab to the hospital.
Russell said the victim has provided little information to investigators.
The area was cordoned off Thursday as police searched for evidence and canvassed for witnesses.
Gordon said the family moved in about six months ago. She believes the victim and his mother both work in Alberta’s oil fields. “They’re good people. They’ve been great tenants, I’m very surprised.”
Gordon said university tenants live in the upstairs portion of the house but she doesn’t know if they were home at the time of the shooting.
One resident of the area said her brother thought he heard a gunshot about 11 p.m. but the family assumed it was a car backfiring and did not call police. Police did not say what time the shooting happened.
Victoria police ask anyone with information to call the department’s non-emergency line at 250-995-7654. Anonymous reports can be made by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
