Group encounters man with loaded gun in remote Lumby wilderness

LUMBY – A group of young people had a nerve-racking experience in a remote North Okanagan area recently when a senior confronted them with a shotgun.

They were returning to their car after spending the day on their quads in the Kate Creek Forest Service area May 20.

"It's a vast and remote area," Lumby Cpl. Henry Proce says.

As they made their way to the car, they crossed paths with a 67-year-old Cherryville man who said they were trespassing on private property.

"He said they were on his claim," Proce says. "It's all Crown land up there."

The man gripped the gun's slide and pulled it back, loading it with a fresh cartridge.

Shaken, but unharmed, the group made it to their car, though not before taking down the man's own license plate number. They reported the incident to police.

"You could tell by their police statements how frightened they were," Proce says. "It's so remote there, if something had happened…"

Vernon Crown counsel have approved three firearm related charges against the man.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infotelnews.ca, call (250)309-5230 or tweet @charhelston