Hells Angel hurt in Bacon shooting 'like you and me'

A man wounded in Sunday's gang-related shooting in Kelowna, B.C., shouldn't be judged by his membership in Hells Angels, a friend says.

Jasmine Wong says Hells Angel Larry Amero was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire when Jonathan Bacon was shot and killed outside the Delta Hotel. Two women were also wounded, including one who was left quadriplegic.  

"Wrong place, wrong time," Wong said of her friend. "[Amero] was on vacation, just out there having a good time in Kelowna."

Police have said it's not clear who was the intended target of the shooting — Bacon, who founded the Red Scorpions gang, Amero or a passenger reported to be a member of the Independent Soldiers gang.

Amero is a full patch member of the Hells Angels, but Wong cautioned against jumping to conclusions.

"You shouldn't judge him," she said. "What you do on your own time, in your hobby, just because you belong to a club — a bike club, a car club chess club . … He should be treated just like everyone else."

Wong said she has no idea why Amero was with Bacon but she knows they were friends.

Amero was just a regular person, she said.

"He still goes home, he still has an old lady and a kid, a job, like you and me."

Leah Hadden-Watts, 21, was reported to have suffered a shattered neck vertebra and was paralyzed when the SUV that Bacon and four others were riding in was showered with bullets from an automatic weapon. The second woman's injuries were not life-threatening.

Police have made no arrests in the shooting.