Fort St. John, B.C., family frustrated as police investigate reports of gunshots, home invasion
A family in northeastern British Columbia say they're frustrated with the RCMP's response to the house next door after their home was riddled with bullet holes this month.
Rick McGee of Fort St. John, B.C., says he heard a series of loud popping noises at his home at 112 Avenue at around 5:30 a.m. on Nov. 2. He thought the noise may have come from his cats jumping off a table and went back to sleep.
Later that morning, a woman who lives with his family was about to feed her baby at the table.
"She said, 'Are those holes in the wall?'" McGee recalled.
"I looked up and I said, 'Get the kids out of here … Those are bullet holes. That's what we heard last night.'"
McGee says he has long been raising alarms about the house next door that police say is known to them.
RCMP in Fort St. John, approximately 600 kilometres northwest of Edmonton and 1,200 kilometres north of Vancouver, say they detained four people in the neighbouring house and are investigating a home invasion and shots fired.
"The surrealism and how scary it was to realize that what I thought were just the noises of my cats were actually shots being fired through my wall," McGee said.
In a release, RCMP said they believe the gunshots originated from the home next to McGee's and that an unknown person had forced their way into the home before opening fire.
RCMP said Tuesday that the investigation is ongoing and there are no updates at this time.
'This isn't the first incident on this specific property'
McGee says there have been three shooting incidents involving the house, including one back in August.
Ryan Harvey, spokesperson for the City of Fort St. John, said the city is "deeply concerned about these instances that have happened."
"Obviously this isn't the first incident on this specific property … the city is looking at different avenues that we can potentially deal with nuisance and dangerous properties such as this one, whether that be through provincial legislation or city bylaws," Harvey said.
McGee says his entire family is staying with relatives, and that the family is looking to return for a "tryout period" to see if they will feel safe in the home.
McGee says he has a meeting with police and the city on Nov. 23.
"It seems that if we, the neighbourhood, aren't making noise and constantly bugging city officials and the RCMP that these things kind of get forgotten about," he said,
