High-ranking gang member killed in B.C. Interior, police say
Donald Lyons, 51, was known to police for his association with the Independent Soldiers criminal organization
Police have identified a man killed in Princeton, B.C., on Sunday in what investigators are calling a targeted shooting.
RCMP said they responded to reports of shots fired around 2:30 p.m. PT along Princeton Summerland Road in the southern Interior town, which lies around 90 kilometres southwest of Kelowna, B.C.
In a statement, RCMP said they found a man had been shot in a driveway of a home, and he died at the scene.
They say they believe the shooting was targeted, and the force's major crimes unit has taken over the investigation.
On Thursday, police identified the victim as 51-year-old Donald Lyons.
Court documents show Lyons was known to police for his association with the criminal organization the Independent Soldiers.
According to B.C. Supreme Court documents, Lyons had been sentenced to federal prison time for various drug, violence and weapons offences in both Winnipeg and Kelowna.
In a 2012 ruling, a judge called him a "high-ranking and trusted member" of the Independent Soldiers.
Lyons had outstanding charges of uttering threats and assault before the courts in Princeton and Kelowna when he died.
In a written statement, Staff Sgt. Jason Smart of the RCMP's major crimes unit, southeast district, said police do not believe there is any risk to public safety in the aftermath of Lyons's death.
Smart said police are looking for dashcam footage or any information from anyone who was travelling along Princeton Summerland Road between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. PT on June 15.
With files from Brady Strachan