‘I used to let my kids walk to school – but not anymore’; Merritt residents shaken after repeated police standoffs

Roda was not able to confirm that the four incidents are connected.

“It’s very possible they are. We are still piecing through the evidence right now. As you can imagine there, is mountains of evidence to go through. We are going to have a lot of stuff going to labs. This is going to take quite some time to piece it all together and figure out what has actually happened,” added Roda.

The drama in Merritt began last Tuesday (Nov. 15) with reports of 100 shots fired across the community. Then on Friday (Nov. 18), a standoff occurred at two separate locations in the city leading to three arrests.

“Early Friday morning we had another shooting downtown where a residence was targeted. After that while members were processing the scene, they heard another gun shot in the area. We flooded the area and saw a dark sedan speeding away,” said Roda. “That sedan was located about a kilometre away from what we believed the new shooting scene was. We ended up taking multiple people into custody and now we have three people that have been charged with kidnapping with a firearm.”

The wild week continued on Sunday (Nov. 20) with local Mounties executing a search warrant at a Granite Avenue home.

Through the madness local residents have been put on edge.

“It’s crazy. They have the street blocked off today. It’s wicked. Everybody is really scared from the people I’ve spoken with anyways,” said Diane.

“I used to let my kids walk to school — but not anymore. I drive them all to school. I sure hope they get this straightened out,” added Lorne.

While Sgt. Roda couldn’t confirm that the incidents are related to the drug trade, he did say it was likely. He also spoke to issues around repeat offenders in the city.

“We are really frustrated. We keep dealing with the same offenders over and over again. We have offenders who are out on more than 28 serious charges and they still get released by the courts and this stuff can’t happen. We continue to deal with these people and the public continues to be put at risk. We are very hopeful that the courts will start holding people in custody when they are charged with serious offenses,” stated Roda.

Mayor Mike Goetz agreed on the issues around repeat offenders and noted City Hall will be reaching out to the province and Premier David Eby who recently announced proposed legislative changes targeting repeat offenders.

“We need to know more from him what this situation is going to be — what help we are going to get. When (Eby) took over ICBC, it was a dumpster fire. Well I’ll tell you the justice system is worse than a dumpster fire. We need to see some teeth with this announcement. Hot air is not what we need; we need some action,” said Goetz.

by Michael Reeve

‘I used to let my kids walk to school – but not anymore’; Merritt residents shaken after repeated police standoffs

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