A Sooke man is in hospital with a gunshot wound in what RCMP are calling a targeted attack.
Friends said Tony Nelson was standing in his driveway in the Otter Point area when he was shot early Saturday evening.
Sooke and West Shore RCMP, police dog teams and the Vancouver Island Emergency Response Team flooded the area and arrested a 55-year-old Sooke man hiding in a nearby neighbourhood.
RCMP said the suspect and victim were known to each other, and that they believe the shooting was a targeted attack with no further risk to the public.
The investigation is ongoing, said RCMP. The suspect remains in custody and hadn’t yet been charged on Sunday afternoon, said Sgt. Chris Manseau, RCMP spokesman. He said police are also not releasing what type of gun was used.
Family friend Natalie Kaisinger, who has set up a fundraising page for the family of the victim, called Nelson “one of the kindest, most generous, humble men you will ever meet. His family is his world.”
“Through absolutely no fault of his own his life will now forever be changed.”
RCMP officers and paramedics with B.C. Emergency Health Services were quickly on the scene and found the victim suffering from serious injuries from a gunshot wound, police said.
He was immediately sent to Victoria General Hospital, where he remains. His condition and location of the wound is not immediately known, but friends indicated he is recovering.
Kaisinger said she is hoping to raise money to allow Nelson to recover without the worry of where his next paycheque is coming from.
“We also want to help support his wife, Wendy, the love of his life, to be able to remain at her husband’s side while he recovers. They also have a teenage son who will also be forever affected by this tragic event,” she wrote.
About $2,000 of a $10,000 goal had been raised by Sunday morning.
Police ask anyone with information about this incident to contact Sooke RCMP at 250-642-5241 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS).
