After two people were shot in Esquimalt on Sunday, police recommended two local hospitals be placed on lockdowns, according to Island Health.
Victoria Police says its officers received a report of multiple shots being fired outside of a home in the 1100 block of Lyall Street.
Two people were shot and were hospitalized, one has life-threatening injuries and the other has non-life-threatening injuries.
“The shooting is believed to be targeted; however, the discharging of a firearm in public is highly dangerous and officers are completing an ongoing risk assessment for public safety,” police said in a release. “Should it be determined there is any risk to public safety, updates will be provided.”
VicPD says the investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been made at this point.
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Wendy McClean lives nearby and was abruptly woken up to the gun shots.
“I woke to what I thought was fireworks and there was at least 10 you explosions or shots or whatever you want to call them,” said McClean.
Island Health tells CHEK News that Victoria General Hospital and Royal Jubilee Hospital were both placed on lockdown from around 11:30 p.m. on June 16 to 2 a.m. on June 17.
“This was done at the request of police due to an incident in the community,” Island Health said in a statement to CHEK News. “Patients were not turned away while these enhanced security measures were in place.”
Island Health says the security measures included security checks for people coming to the hospital and temporary restrictions to some entrances.
VicPD says the hospitals were placed on lockdown “out of an abundance of caution” while the circumstances of the injuries were investigated.
Esquimalt’s Mayor, Barb Desjardins, says that despite the double shooting, she is confident that Esquimalt is a safe community.
“We are working to identify the individuals and arrest the individuals as needed. I want to say to the public that community safety public safety is very important to Esquimalt. We will continue to monitor and get the information from VicPD as necessary to make sure our community is safe,” said Desjardins.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact EComm Report Line at (250) 995-7654 extension 1.
Laura Brougham
