Image: Anonymous / A Chilliwack RCMP member stands outside a home Wednesday night. A Chilliwack RCMP spokesperson says one suspect has been held in custody pending further investigation, after police received a report of an assault Wednesday night in Chilliwack.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Police incident

One in custody after reported assault Wednesday night in Chilliwack: RCMP

Oct 3, 2024 | 9:25 AM

CHILLIWACK — A Chilliwack RCMP spokesperson says one suspect has been held in custody pending further investigation after police received a report of an assault Wednesday night in Chilliwack.

While police did not acknowledge the exact location of the incident, a Chilliwack resident told Fraser Valley Today the alleged assault occurred in Fairfield Island outside a home where nearby residents reported hearing gunshots in September 2024.

According to an emailed statement Thursday morning from Chilliwack RCMP spokesperson Corporal Carmen Kiener, frontline RCMP members responded to a report of an assault in a residence at 6:50 p.m. Wednesday night. Cpl. Kiener said the suspects had fled the home prior to the arrival of police.

The two victims of the alleged assault were unable to provide much information, Cpl. Kiener said. However, one suspect was arrested nearby and was held pending further investigation.

Police suspect the incident was not a random assault.

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“We believe this was a targeted incident,” Cpl. Kiener said.

A witness told Fraser Valley Today she and her family were driving on Kent Road Wednesday night when they saw four men in an altercation, of which two had already been bear sprayed. A man who reportedly lives at Kent Road and Fairwood Drive used a metal rod to hit another man before bear spraying the victim. She says two guys ran away from the scene while the other two went into a home near Kent/Fairwood.

“We called the police,” the resident said. “So sick of that house. No shots fired that we saw or heard. The metal rod was thrown after the man was hit with it was in the street, and we pointed it out to RCMP who collected it. Bear spray was openly used at the corner of Fairwood and Kent, off of their public property and in the street.”

The witness said kids were riding their bikes around the neighbourhood about a block away during the time of the alleged assault at 6:45 p.m.

“Two men were leaving the scene in opposite directions on Kent and we watched one be bear sprayed and hit with a rod, and the other appeared to have been bear sprayed and ran to a carport down Kent Road,” the witness said. “This has been nothing but a problem house with undesirable tenants ever since it was sold a few years back. One of our kids is going to get hurt one day.”

Image: Mike Vanden Bosch / Pattison Media / Police incident in Fairfield Island in September 2024, at the corner of Kent Road and Fairwood Drive.

The home in question at Kent/Fairwood generated a significant police presence on September 9 following a police incident. Yellow police tape was strung across the exterior property in the 10100 block of Kent Road after what multiple people say were sounds of possible gunshots. According to two people in one Facebook group, there were gunshots heard between approximately 4:30 a.m. and 4:45 a.m. Monday, followed by a heavy police presence. One Facebook commenter said her husband heard five gunshots at 4:40 a.m.

“I have just spoken with the officers investigating,” Chilliwack RCMP Cpl. Teresa Parsons told Fraser Valley Today via email on September 9. “There was an incident earlier this morning, officers are still on scene and the investigation is ongoing. There is no indication of any risk to the public.”

Fraser Valley Today obtained additional screenshots from multiple residents who reported hearing gunshots and then seeing multiple police officers in the vicinity of the Kent Road home.

“Those gun shots literally sounded like it was beside my head this morning,” one person said. “That was horrifying and scared the sh– outta me lol.”

The home appears to be the same one where a previous incident involving shots fired occurred in February 2023. In that incident, nearby residents described hearing gunshots and seeing police vehicles in and around the home, located at the corner of Kent Road and Fairwood Drive, as well as arrests.

The home in question sold in December 2021 for $975,000, according to B.C. Assessment.

One Chilliwack resident wrote online that the home has become a “nightmare” ever since the previous owners sold it, while another Chilliwack resident said the home in question has been dangerous for approximately four years. Another resident said the home has been a source of nefarious activity for over a year.

A spokesperson for the City of Chilliwack says the Fairfield Island home was the subject of three bylaw complaints over a roughly 14-month span. According to information provided by Jamie Leggatt, director of communications and legislative services for the City of Chilliwack, a residence on Kent Road in Fairfield Island generated three bylaw complaints between October 2022 and December 2023.

The first bylaw complaint that arose in October 2022 was connected to a garbage issue, followed by a second bylaw inquiry related to garbage and a shipping container in the driveway in October 2023, and a third and final complaint about garbage in December 2023.

“In each case, voluntary compliance was achieved within a reasonable period of time,” Leggatt said.