One woman was taken to hospital and a family dog has died after a shooting in Maple Ridge.
Emergency responders were called to the 26000 block of Lougheed Highway at around 9 p.m. Wednesday night, Oct. 5, where they discovered a 52-year-old woman had been shot along with a dog.
The woman was taken to hospital by ambulance with what police are describing as non-life-threatening injuries.
But, despite emergency medical treatment, the family dog died.
About one hour later the Lower Mainland Integrated Emergency Response Team along with Abbotsford police arrested a 38-year-old Abbotsford man – in Abbotsford – without incident. He is currently being held in police custody.
“The rapid and highly coordinated response and communication between Police jurisdictions, Integrated Teams, the Forensic Identification Support and Emergency Health Services was instrumental in the timely arrest of the suspect,” noted Supt. Wendy Mehat, officer in charge of the Ridge Meadows RCMP detachment.
Witnesses online describe multiple police vehicles in the area and racing to the area. One witness described police telling them to lock their doors and windows.
“In an instance where there has been reports of a shooting while police are determining what happened and investigating the incident they will always tell people in the public to go in doors for their safety as a precautionary measure,” explained Corp. Julie Klaussner with the Ridge Meadows detachment.
“Police take public safety very seriously and will always err on the side of caution until they can determine what has happened in a rapid and fluid unfolding situation,” she said, adding that in this instance there was a large police presence that was scaled back once police determined what was happening and that safety to the public was mitigated.
This is the 11th confirmed shooting since the start of the year, confirmed Klaussner, four of which were fatal.
Six shootings took place within a six month span.
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Two murders took place in April. Darr Khunkhun was killed in a targeted shooting at Olympians Gym in downtown Maple Ridge on April 9, and Aaron Joseph Comeau was shot and killed outside a residence on Carlton Street on April 28.
On May 25, a man survived being shot at a residence on McDougal Street.
On July 15, a 35-year-old woman, Cashmere Ali, was killed and a man injured as they were both shot at a house on 119th Avenue.
On Aug. 12, a 33-year-old man, Cory Thomas, was fatally shot on 216th Street, just south of Dewdney Trunk Road.
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And on Sept. 18, a 51-year-old man was discovered with gunshot wounds in the 12300 block area of 227 Street and transported to hospital with serious injuries.
This latest incident, said Klaussner, was isolated and is not connected to the Lower Mainland gang conflict.
“All parties involved were known to each other,” she noted, adding that the investigation is still ongoing.
“There are no further details available at this time,” she said.
• With files from Neil Corbett
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