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Three dead, one wounded near Qualicum Beach; targeted killing suspected

Major crime officers are investigating a targeted killing after three bodies were found, two of them in a burned-out travel trailer, in a gravel pit at the end of a logging road near Whiskey Creek.

Major crime officers are investigating a targeted killing after three bodies were found, two of them in a burned-out travel trailer, in a gravel pit at the end of a logging road near Whiskey Creek. One survivor, a man suffering from gunshot wounds, was airlifted to hospital in critical condition. Police believe people connected to the crime are still at large.

A person riding his off-road motorbike on the Melrose Forest Service Road in rural Qualicum Beach called 911 around 2 p.m. Sunday after he found an unresponsive man, Oceanside RCMP spokesman Cpl. Jesse Foreman said in a news release.

When police and paramedics arrived, they found one man and confirmed he was dead. Two more victims were found dead in the burned trailer. In another trailer, they found a man suffering from gunshot wounds, Foreman said.

The shooting victim was in critical condition and was airlifted by B.C. Emergency Health Services to hospital. His condition is now stable.

Oceanside RCMP contacted the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit, which investigates homicides on Vancouver Island and is now in charge of the investigation.

Foreman said Oceanside RCMP officers were familiar with the two people living in the trailer. They were under court-ordered bail conditions that included a night-time curfew and as a result, police were often in the area to check that they were abiding by their conditions.

“What hasn’t been confirmed is that they were indeed the occupants found deceased in the trailer,” Foreman said in an email. “Forensics will have to be used to confirm.”

Investigators believe there are additional people associated with the killings who remain at large.

Initial findings lead investigators to believe that this in an isolated incident between parties well known to one another,” Foreman said. “We do not believe there is any ongoing risk to the public.

Leanne Salter, who represents Whiskey Creek for the Nanaimo Regional District, said she was shocked to hear of the killings.

“It’s such a tragedy. I think people are quite disturbed by it,” she said. “There’s going to be at least thee families who are going to be suffering terribly from this. This isn’t something that’s a usual occurance in this area. It’s very unusual and it’s concerning.”

She said some people have been living in the heavily forested area in recreational vehicles. The district does not move people along since they have nowhere else to go, Salter said.

She did not know the identity of the victims.

One motorcyclist who came upon the police vehicles on Sunday said, other than illegal dumping, he’s never seen suspicious activity in the area, which includes dozens of trails popular with dirt bikers and off-road vehicle drivers.

The area is a mix of Crown land, private land owned by forestry companies and an old gravel pit. The Crown land is maintained by the Vancouver Island Dirt Riders Association, said president Andrew Graham.

The two trailers have been in the area for several months, he said. ­Graham said he reported the squatters a couple of months ago and had seen a group living there since then. Graham said he didn’t have an interaction with them since they were not on the Crown land he monitors.

Foreman said the investigation is in its infancy and there are many questions that remain unanswered.

Police did not release any details about a possible motive.

Supt. Sanjaya Wijayakoon of the B.C. RCMP Major Crime Unit said Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit investigators are enlisting expertise from several support units.

B.C.’s anti-gang task force, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, said Monday it is not involved in the investigation.

Oceanside RCMP notified the B.C. Coroners Service, which was on scene Sunday night and Monday.

The coroner’s investigation aims to determine the identities of the dead, along with where and when they died, and the cause of death.

The names of the dead have not been released.

Investigators are asking anyone with information or dash camera or trail camera video from the area to call the tip and information line at 250-380-6211.

kderosa@timescolonist.com