A Sooke man shot his neighbour in the stomach with a rifle after a series of conflicts between two couples, a B.C. Supreme Court trial heard Thursday.
Anthony Nelson was at home with his wife on the evening of May 7, 2022, when he went outside to his trailer and was confronted by someone pointing a rifle at him, Crown prosecutor Sofia Green told the court in her opening remarks at Paul Tregear’s trial.
Tregear is charged with aggravated assault, discharging a firearm, possessing a firearm without a licence and harassment.
Nelson did not initially recognize the assailant, but eventually realized it was his neighbour based on Tregear’s comments, Green said.
Nelson asked Tregear what he was doing and Tregear shot him in the stomach, Green told the 12-person jury.
“Mr. Tregear and Cindy Hehn had been neighbours to the Nelsons for years. However, over time, the relationship had become unfriendly due to conflicts between Mr. Tregear and Ms. Hehn, and the Nelson family. It is the Crown’s theory that on the evening of May 7, 2022, Mr. Tregear shot Mr. Nelson because of the conflict,” she said.
After being shot, Nelson struggled to take the gun from Tregear, injuring him in the process, Green said.
The jury will hear testimony from Nelson, as well as his wife and son, officers who responded to the shooting, and a trauma surgeon who treated Nelson’s gunshot wound, she said.
Const. David Devine described arriving with one other officer to a “very chaotic situation” at the Nelson home on Farmer Drive.
He saw Nelson and his wife, Wendy Nelson, sitting on the stoop of their house.
“It was clear that Anthony was in severe pain. He was doubled up. They were both screaming and yelling,” he said.
Wendy Nelson had called 911 and reported that her husband had been shot by their neighbour, Devine said. Officers were told a suspect had fled to his home or to a truck, he said.
Devine and Const. Natasha Mongraw rushed Anthony and Wendy Nelson into a police vehicle so Mongraw could take them to the nearby Otter Point Volunteer Fire Department, where paramedics were waiting, he said.
Alone after Mongraw’s departure with the Nelsons, Devine cautiously moved toward the Nelson home, concerned about the possibility of a shooter hiding in surrounding forests, he testified.
About five feet from the Nelsons’ front steps, he found a loaded rifle with a round already in the chamber, Devine told the court.
Tregear was arrested later that evening, he said.
During cross examination by Tregear’s lawyer, Neil Brooks, Devine said Tregear was covered in “quite a bit” of dried blood and had a puffy eye. “He had significant facial injuries, bruises, black eye,” Devine said.
The trial continues today.
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