Impact of violent crime leaves emotional scars for innocent bystanders in Mission

MISSION — What was supposed to be a routine grocery run turned into a nightmare for shoppers at the Real Canadian Superstore in Mission as a 41-year-old man became the target of a violent shooting in the store’s parking lot earlier this week.

The victim, known to police and believed to have ties to the gangs in B.C., sustained serious injuries after being shot multiple times while seated in his vehicle. He is recovering in a local hospital. Meanwhile the suspects, who made a hasty exit, left the community in a state of shock.

Mission RCMP say the incident has left its mark on bystanders who were loading groceries into their vehicles when the shots rang out. A young mother, shopping with her niece, found herself at the center of the chaos. Fleeing for safety, the two escaped quickly, leaving the tailgate of their pick up truck open. Baby diapers, infant clothes, and a poinsettia fell out of the truck bed as the woman drove to safety.

“Witnessing this type of incident is not something anyone should ever have to experience,” said Corporal Harrison Mohr with Mission RCMP. “Not only was this young mother exposed to a traumatic event, but she then realized that in her haste to get out of there, she lost most of the groceries she had gone out to buy.”