Vancouver Island’s major crime unit is investigating after three bodies were found, two of them in a burned-out travel trailer, at the end of a logging road near Whiskey Creek on Sunday. One survivor, a man suffering from gunshot wounds, was airlifted to hospital in critical condition. Police are describing the killings as targeted.
A person riding his off-road motorbike on the Melrose Forest Service Road in rural Qualicum Beach called 911 around 2 p.m. after he found an unresponsive man, Oceanside RCMP spokesman Cpl. Jesse Foreman said in a news release.
When police and paramedics arrived, they found one man and confirmed he was dead. Two more victims were found dead in a burned-out travel trailer. In another trailer, they found a man suffering from gunshot wounds, Foreman said.
The shooting victim was in critical condition and was airlifted by B.C. Emergency Health Services to hospital. His condition is now stable.
Oceanside RCMP contacted the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit, which investigates homicides on Vancouver Island and is now in charge of the investigation.
Initial findings lead investigators to believe that this in an isolated incident between parties well known to one another,” Foreman said. “We do not believe there is any ongoing risk to the public.
Supt. Sanjaya Wijayakoon of the B.C. RCMP Major Crime Unit said VIIMCU investigators are enlisting expertise from several support units.
Foreman said the investigation is in its infancy and there are many questions that remain unanswered.
Police did not release any details about possible suspects or motive.
B.C.’s anti-gang task force, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, said Monday morning it is not involved in the investigation.
Oceanside RCMP also notified the B.C. Coroners Service, which was on scene last night and this morning.
The coroner’s investigation aims to determine the identities of the deceased, along with where and when they died, and the cause of death.
The names of the deceased are not being released.
Investigators are asking anyone with information or dash camera or trail camera video from area to call the tip and information line at 250-380-6211.
The incident happened in an area popular with dirt bikers and off-road vehicles.
Two dirt bikers who drove by the scene on Sunday posted on social media that they saw several police vehicles, an ambulance and investigators in hazmat suits near a gravel pit west of the Melrose Road underpass to the Island Highway.
More to come
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