Stray bullet enters family’s SUV on B.C. backcountry road, prompting warning about reckless gun use

Guns are seen in the trunk of a Mustang in a handout image from the Mission RCMP.

Authorities are sounding the alarm about reckless gun use following a recent incident outside Mission, B.C., that could have ended in tragedy.

A family of four was driving near Davis Lake, along the Lost Creek Forest Service Road, when a stray bullet entered their SUV, according to Mission RCMP.

The family heard gunfire, then the father “looked over to see a bullet spinning around inside the cup holder of one of his children’s car seats,” the detachment said in a news release Friday.

“Amazingly, no one was injured,” Mission RCMP added. “It appears that the bullet entered the vehicle through an open window.”

No suspects have been identified—but authorities said the incident highlights an ongoing problem of people “illegally and unsafely” firing guns on forest service roads around the community.

This kind of irresponsible gun use has prompted a string of police calls over the last year, Mission RCMP said.

Notably, the detachment said when officers have managed to locate suspects, they are usually “out-of-towners.”

“Offenders were nearly always a group of males from elsewhere in the Lower Mainland – usually Surrey – who often come in passenger cars that cannot get to more isolated wilderness areas where discharging firearms may be safe and lawful,” Mission RCMP said.

Authorities stressed that having a firearms licence does not permit the holder to enter areas specifically closed to shooting, identifiable on the Fraser Valley Regional District’s “No Shooting Areas Map.”

That includes areas within 400 meters of forest service roads.

Mission RCMP said members will be increasing patrols in the backcountry, along with conservation officers, and that anyone caught illegally shooting guns can face penalties ranging from fines to criminal charges.