By James Peters

Lockdown ended, one in custody after Williams Lake shooting

Apr 25, 2016 | 9:57 AM

WILLIAMS LAKE — The Mayor of Williams Lake has confirmed RCMP have made an arrest after an early morning shooting incident, ending a lockdown in the community.

Walt Cobb says the shooting incident happened on Western Avenue, near Nesika Elementary School, Cataline Elementary School, and Columneetza Secondary School.

“Because it’s in the vicinity of three schools plus our university, they’ve closed the schools for the day. But it was not targeted at the schools. That was my fear, that somebody had threatened the schools, but that was not the case,” said Cobb.

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According to an RCMP news release, the incident happened at about 4:00 a.m, with several shots being fired into a home in the 900 block of Western Avenue.

No one was injured in the shooting.

“The only reason the schools were closed was because that’s the main busing area. We’re a rural community, most of the kids come into school by bus so they didn’t want an incident to happen there.”

Police say when they arrived to investigate the initial shooting, officers heard another shot, which resulted in a sense of “heightened vigilance.”

Investigators believe the incident was targeted, as the house was recently home to a self-professed gang member.

However, a family lives there now, and they have no criminal connections.

According to RCMP, one person is in custody and a gun has been seized.

“It’s scary when all you hear is there’s a lockdown, and you hear that schools are closed. Facebook has its advantages, but it has its disadvantages because there’s a lot of misinformation out there and it scares people. I guess it’s better to be a little afraid and stay in your home than to go out and let something else happen.”