UPDATE: Suspect Charged In Penticton Shootings

Apr 16, 2019 | 11:08 AM

UPDATE

RCMP say the motive behind the shooting deaths of four people in Penticton is still being investigated.

68 year old John Brittain, a retired engineer with the City, has been charged with three counts of first degree murder and one count of second degree murder.

“At this time the motive is what we are looking at, so I can’t speak to the actual relationship and again mindful that this matter is before the courts,” Superintendent Ted De Jager told a news conference Tuesday morning.

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The suspect turned himself into the police shortly after two men and two women were gunned down at three different sites.

Police say the four victims were all in their 60’s and 70’s, and they all knew each other, and knew the suspect.

Penticton Mayor John Vassilaki says he knew Brittain from when he worked for the city, and says he was “a gentle man” who “did his job well.”

“He was very in favour of what our community was doing and they were always involved in community matters, him and his wife. Other than that, I couldn’t tell you a lot about their personal lives,” said Vassilaki.

UPDATE

Police say the victims were two adult men and two adult women.

The suspect who turned himself in is a 60 year old man.

Other than saying it was a targeted event, and that the people all knew each other, police have not determined what the motive was.

RCMP say four people have been killed at three locations in a shooting incident in Penticton today.

The incident started around 10:30 this morning, with reports of a possible shooting in the downtown area, and police issuing an an advisory urging the public to stay inside due to a “serious and unfolding incident.”

Four people were killed in three locations within a five km radius, and police believe all four were targeted, but they have not released a possible motive.

About an hour later, a man turned himself in at the front office of the police detachment.

RCMP Superintendent Ted De Jager told a news conference, “I understand this is a deeply troubling incident that has taken place in our community, but I would like to confirm we do have one individual in custody, and we have been able to determine this was a targeted incident. Determining why this occurred is part of the priorities of our ongoing investigation.”

De Jager says the initial incident was in the Westminster and Lakeview area in the north part of the city where one person was killed, and the second and third ones were in the southern part of the city on Cornwall where three people were killed.

It’s not known how many weapons the suspect had, but his vehicle, a Volkswagen Jetta, was seized.

De Jager said the shooting incident, with that many victims, was “unprecedented” for the Penticton area.

Photo courtesy of Twitter/Joe Fries

by Corey Fischer