There are still no suspects identified nearly a week after a brazen drive-by shooting that ended with a truck set on fire in Coquitlam.
Just before 6 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 19 a suspect in a Ford F-350 pulled up next to a man and woman in a white Mercedes at Johnson Street and David Avenue and fired several shots, according to Coquitlam RCMP. The man was injured but continued driving, possibly while on his way to the hospital, and called police.
"At the direction of the RCMP we had him pull to the side of the road at Lansdowne Drive and Guildford Way… where officers met up with him," said Const. Jamie Phillipson.
The man's injuries were from the car's shattered glass; he was treated in hospital and released a few hours later. The woman was not injured.
As police were speaking with them at Lansdowne and Guildford the pick-up truck, which had been reported stolen, was found fully engulfed in flames at Charter Hill Drive and Lansdowne.
"The tires exploded and caused the vehicle to start rolling down the hill, striking the fire truck," said Phillipson.
Coquitlam Fire Rescue's Acting Chief Jim Ogloff said the vehicle was set on fire and then abandoned and shortly after the crews' initial attack with water the truck rolled into their ladder truck.
"It's certainly not the tactic we want to use for stopping a burning vehicle but I think these things unfold rather quickly," Ogloff said. "Vehicle fires themselves aren't an everyday occurrence but we've gone to a number of them over the years and they tend to give off a fair amount of heat once they're fully involved, which was the case here."
Firefighters immediately turned their attention to the pick-up truck and their own engine and had the flames out within a few minutes, Ogloff said.
The damage to the ladder truck is being assessed by a third-party contractor but Ogloff said it wasn't too significant and the truck was driven back to the fire hall.
He couldn't say how the fire was started, noting there is very little evidence left after a fully involved vehicle fire.
Phillipson said both the victim and suspect vehicles were seized for forensic examination and investigators are still talking to witnesses.
As for the shooting suspect, only "very vague details" are known at this point.
"Clearly it was a targeted incident but the motive is unknown at this time," Phillipson said. "It's miraculous that no one was injured and while these types of incidents are rare it's extremely troubling when it happens at 6 p.m. in a residential area."
Charter Hill resident Blair Mitchell came upon the scene just before the truck rolled down the hill and watched as officers with police dogs searched the area for the suspect.
"It's not the neighbourhood because this was random, but it's happening too often," he said, adding he feels the Tri-Cities is seeing an increase in the kinds of crime one would expect from a large city.
"I'm used to growing up here, where nothing like this ever happens," Mitchell said.
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@spayneTC
