2 injured in targeted Prince George shooting as city deals with ‘increased weapons violence,’ RCMP say

The Prince George RCMP detachment is seen in this photo from its Facebook page. (Facebook/PrinceGeorgeRCMP)

Police in Prince George, B.C., are promising “enhanced patrols” after a third targeted shooting in less than three weeks.

The latest incident occurred just after 3 a.m. Tuesday at a home in the 2100 block of Redwood Street, Prince George RCMP said in a news release later the same day.

Officers arrived to find two people inside the residence suffering from gunshot wounds, police said, adding that they were taken to hospital for treatment.

Police did not elaborate on the severity of the victims’ injuries.

Mounties are asking anyone who saw “suspicious persons or vehicles” on the street around the time of the shooting to contact investigators. They’re also looking for surveillance video from the neighbourhood.

“Though this investigation is just beginning, investigators have reason to believe that this was a targeted incident,” said Cpl. Jennifer Cooper, in the release.

“Though the public was not the target, shootings in our city require that we all pay extra attention to what is happening in our neighbourhoods and report anything suspicious to the police for us to investigate.”

It’s the second day in a row that Prince George RCMP have issued a news release about a targeted shooting.

On Monday, the detachment announced it had launched an investigation after shots were fired in the 600 block of Ahbau Street just before 3 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 30.

No one was injured in that incident.

An earlier shooting took place on Porter Avenue Jan. 17 and sent a 37-year-old man to hospital with serious, but non-life-threatening, injuries. That incident was also targeted, according to police.

“To address the increased weapons violence we have experienced recently, the Problem Oriented Policing team has set up enhanced patrols in these neighbourhoods, focusing this targeted enforcement action on those known to be associated with organized crime and, in turn, increasing community safety,” Prince George RCMP said in their statement Tuesday.

The investigation of the latest shooting remains ongoing and police said they expected to be in the neighbourhood for much of the day.