A 20-year-old man was shot in his abdomen at the front of his residence on the 600 block of McPhee Avenue in Courtenay Friday night, in what Comox Valley RCMP believe was not a random shooting.
Around 8:30 p.m., RCMP arrived on scene to find a man suffering from a single gunshot wound, and transported him to St. Joseph's General Hospital in Comox, confirmed Cst. Dave Smith of the Comox Valley RCMP Saturday afternoon. The victim was then flown by helicopter to a Vancouver-area hospital where he underwent surgery and is expected to survive.
"As a result of the call, members set up a perimeter, which involved our police dog service. A male was seen fleeing from the 600 block of McPhee in the area of Cumberland Road and then in a southerly direction towards the firehall and then towards 17th Street," he added.
The man is described as possibly in his 20s with an average build, and was wearing a grey hoodie to partially conceal his face, and possibly black pants.
"Our police dog did not locate the male so we are asking anyone with information or anyone who might have seen anything suspicious in that area around that time to call the Comox Valley RCMP," said Smith.
He added people on the periphery of the investigation associated to the residence are known to police to an extent.
Members of both the Comox Valley General Investigation Section along with members of the Vancouver Major Crime Section are assisting in the investigation, as the victim was flown to the Vancouver area.
"We do want residents to know that at this time, we don't believe this was a random act, although our investigation is very preliminary right now. We don't believe Courtenay residents have anything to fear in terms of this being a random incident," added Smith.
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