A criminal charge has been dropped against a man arrested after an incident where a Nanaimo man was shot while trying to retrieve stolen items from a homeless encampment.
The arrested man had been charged with pointing a firearm, but the B.C. Prosecution Service announced Wednesday that there has been a stay of proceedings, since the charge did not meet the standard needed to go ahead.
It could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused committed an offence in relation to the incident, it said in a statement.
The man who was shot in the abdomen had gone March 12 with a group of supporters to the encampment, located down a steep slope near the Millstone River, close to 200 Terminal Avenue, to retrieve stolen goods.
The prosecution service said the group went to the camp armed with weapons, including sticks and metal batons, and some wore protective gear.
It said the “complainant” — the man who was later shot — was wearing a protective vest and black gloves with hardened knuckles and was carrying a collapsible metal baton.
“As the complainant began forcibly removing items from one of the tents at the encampment, a physical altercation erupted,” the statement said, adding the available evidence does not provide a “full or entirely clear picture of what happened during the initial altercation.”
“What is reasonably clear is that, as matters escalated, the accused, who was a camper at that location, and another camper (camper B) armed themselves, respectively, with a .22 caliber rifle and an air-powered paintball pistol.
“They and the complainant’s group moved away from the encampment onto the road and into the parking lot of a nearby restaurant.”
A bystander used a cellphone to record what happened, and the video shows the accused “pointing the rifle, while the complainant strikes camper B over the head with a collapsible baton. Camper B was later treated in hospital for a laceration to the head,” the statement said.
“At some point, the complainant was shot, once, in the abdomen.”
Another bullet hit the grill of a truck parked nearby.
“It is unclear from the available evidence at precisely what point in the altercation this occurred. Once the police arrived at the scene, they recovered the rifle and the air-powered paintball pistol.”
The man charged with pointing a firearm was arrested on March 22 by an officer who believed his clothing was similar to that of the man seen pointing the rifle in the video, the prosecution service said.
As the investigation continued, a picture of a “chaotic and violent encounter emerges,” it said. Significant doubt emerged about some of the evidence and the complainant and his group stopped co-operating with police.
A second shooting in the area occurred in June, sending another person to hospital.
The statement said the reasons for the stay of proceedings were released because of the public attention the March shooting attracted and to maintain confidence in the integrity of the criminal justice system.
Karen Kuwica, president of the nearby Newcastle Community Association, said she is frustrated that the long-standing encampment continues to exist.
Stolen goods are taken down the slope and more camps have been set up, she said.
Kuwica reiterated calls to close Barsby Park, which is close to the embankment, to camping. The embankment needs to be cleaned up, as does the land adjacent to the river, she said. “It’s an environmentally sensitive area.”
