An annual cycling event turned violent after one of the participants was shot in an incident Mounties are calling “unusual.”
Burnaby resident Craig Premack was participating in an annual 600-kilometre cycling event from Pitt Meadows to Cache Creeek and back, organized by the B.C. Randonneurs Cycling Club. By 1 a.m. on Sunday, Premack had made it more than halfway through the ride and was nearing a control stop in Spences Bridge.
The avid cyclist, runner and set designer for New Westminster’s Vagabond Players, was about three kilometres south of Spences Bridge when a suspect in an unidentified pickup truck shot him.
Lytton RCMP were dispatched to the scene where they found Premack in serious condition.
According to Const. Kris Clark of the RCMP Southeast District, Premack’s injuries were indeed serious but non-life threatening. He is expected to make a full recovery. He was taken to a local hospital where he remains in stable condition.
While police are in the initial stages of their investigation, Clark said the incident does not appear to be targeted. Investigators are still searching for witnesses and at this time do not have a description of the suspect’s truck.
Clark said nothing like this has happened in the area before, adding that it’s an unusual incident for any area.
The area Premack was riding through when he was shot is somewhat populated but the highway, which is made up mostly of rolling hills and rocky low bushes, is mainly a rural valley road, Clark said.
At this time, Mounties are looking to speak with anyone with information regarding the incident, the suspect or the pickup truck.
Anyone with any information is asked to call the Lytton RCMP at 250-455-2225 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
