Police say a shotgun was accidentally set off in downtown Nanaimo yesterday.
The incident occurred near the needle exchange site on Franklyn Street on Tuesday, Oct. 31 at around 10 a.m. Upon arriving on the scene, police “found the gun lying on the ground and several bewildered and shocked bystanders standing nearby,” said a Const. Gary O’Brien, Nanaimo RCMP spokesman, in a press release.
O’Brien said, employees of the needle exchange were outside cleaning up garbage, assisted by a man who had volunteered to help. The man was said to have found the shotgun and didn’t think it was real.
“It was an accidental discharge,” O’Brien told the News Bulletin. “It was found in a pile of garbage outside the needle exchange on Franklyn, the 300 block. The guy picks it up and said, ‘It’s probably a toy gun,’ so he racks the action and pulls the trigger and he fires a round into the pavement.”
O’Brien said nobody was injured, the gun was seized and there will be no charges.
The shotgun could have been there for upwards of 24 hours based on how often the property is cleaned, said O’Brien.
There is a lesson to be learned in this situation that all firearms must be treated as if they’re real and loaded until proven otherwise, O’Brien said.
“This could have had tragic consequences if a child happened to come across it,” said O’Brien. “Forensic investigators will now check the serial number of the firearm to see if it is recorded in any police data banks and to determine if it has been used in any previously reported crimes.”
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