Penticton Court House (file photo).
By Don Urquhart, Times Chronicle
Crown prosecution has laid three charges in the Canada Day shooting incident at Osoyoos Lake’s White Sands beach which left a Maple Ridge man with non-life threatening injuries.
Steven Marlo Gallagher has been charged under three sections of the Criminal Code including aggravated assault, pointing a firearm and reckless discharge of a firearm, Osoyoos RCMP commander Sgt. Jason Bayda told the Times Chronicle.
Lawyers for the 29 year-old Oliver resident have made an application to the court to have him released from custody while awaiting trial. The court will hear this on July 21.
Noting that Gallagher is well-known to RCMP in Oliver and Osoyoos including for his role in breaking into Remedy’s RX pharmacy in Oliver and starting a fire on May 15, 2021.
On the same day, someone fired shots at a police vehicle while it was parked at the RCMP detachment. A truck was also set on fire next to the Subway eatery in downtown Oliver. He has not been connected to these two other events.
White Sands beach (left) and the suspect in the shooting Steven Marlo Gallagher (right).
“He’s a dangerous person and that’s why we put out the warning to the public,” Bayda says of the ‘armed and dangerous’ bulletin that was put out following the July 1 incident. Gallagher turned himself in to the Penticton RCMP on July 3.
That incident saw a 22-year-old from Maple Ridge suffering non-life-threatening injuries after being shot in the hip allegedly by Gallagher after the two became involved in a dispute.
According to Bayda the victim was with friends getting ready to watch the Canada Day fireworks when a male from another group started an altercation before pulling out a gun, firing multiple rounds and shooting the victim before fleeing the area.
The suspect also reportedly ‘pistol whipped’ an individual who was attempting to break up the fight.
Both the victim and the suspect arrived at the beach overland which requires entering the private property of the Osoyoos Indian Band (OIB). Most users of the beach arrive by boat.
Bayda also clarified events around the single 911 call (from a friend of the victim) that was placed. “Again we received only one call and this is really shocking,” Bayda stated earlier.
He was at a loss for an explanation as to why only one single 911 call was made when typically multiple calls are placed for events of lesser magnitude.
Bayda said that other people who were at the beach during the incident have since come forward with information indicating that for those lower on the beach, the large number of people and music from the boats made it hard to hear the gunshot. Others thought it was merely someone lighting off a firework.
Once it became clear what had happened there was a mass exodus from the beach.
