RCMP on scene after a shooting incident at a home along 10th Street in Kamloops on May 3, 2024. (Image Credit: Kent Simmonds / CFJC Today)

By Dylana Kneeshaw

DRUG TRAFFICKING CONFLICT

RCMP resources sent in to help Kamloops Mounties investigate multiple arson, shooting incidents

May 9, 2024 | 5:30 PM

KAMLOOPS — After a string of shooting incidents over this past week, Kamloops RCMP provided an update to local media outlets on Thursday (May. 9).

A report of shots fired outside the Star Lodge, a drive-by shooting on 10th Street, more shots fired along Sudbury Avenue, and one person shot at a hotel along Pemberton Terrace and Columbia Street West. Kamloops RCMP confirmed this week they believe the incidents are related, while notifying the public of a safety risk.

“There’s no place for drug trafficking violence and disregard for human life in our city, and we will do everything we can to help keep our streets safe,” Kamloops RCMP Superintendent Jeff Pelley said as he spoke to the information that RCMP could share about the situation, while acknowledging some details cannot be shared to protect the integrity of active investigations.

RCMP recently issued a warning, urging people in the Kamloops area to avoid contact with two people believed to be the main targets of future violence.

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“Cameron Ronald Cole, age 40, and Justin Christopher Hunt, age 25,” reiterates Pelley. “Based on our investigations so far, we believe that in early March, Kamloops began to experience the effects of an ongoing conflict between two local drug traffickers.”

Police say those shootings were preceded by at least half a dozen arson incidents throughout March, April and May. The most recent violence took place on May 6, when one person was injured in a shooting near the Ramada Inn along Columbia Street West.

“To date, one person has been reported injured as a result of public violence displayed, and that person was targeted,” explains Pelley. “Some of the incidents have occurred in public venues, and have included a misidentified target — which relates to an arson investigation on Spruce Avenue.”

In response to the series of arsons and shootings, a surge of resources has been sent in to work with Kamloops RCMP.

“Our Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, our Uniformed Gang Task Force, our Crime Reduction Unit — we’ve had support from other detachments as well,” states Pelley. “And we continue to advance these investigations while we have parallel suppression and disruption and a high presence in our community.”

Mounties are also urging people to come forward if they witnessed anything related or have information about the ongoing conflict.

“There are people out there who have information that can assist the police in preventing these acts of violence, and we urge you to call the police,” says Pelley, adding, “We need public support and cooperation in this fight.”

Information can be called in to Kamloops RCMP Detachment at 250-828-3000.