Rural homeowner in custody after shooting

RCMP in Alberta have taken a rural homeowner into custody after a shooting that police allege happened when he confronted two people rummaging through his vehicles. Police say members from their detachment in Okotoks were called to the property at around 5:30 a.m. on Saturday.

They say that during the confrontation between the owner and the suspects, an unknown number of shots were fired before the suspects fled.

Later, police found one person with an injury to his arm, but police were still seeking a second person on Sunday.

Last fall, Alberta’s Opposition called for an emergency debate in the legislature to deal with rural crime and the subject came up following this month’s acquittal of a Saskatchewan farmer in the shooting death of an Indigenous man on his property.

But police are urging people not to pursue or engage with suspicious individuals and to instead immediately report incidents.

“We encourage property owners to not attempt to pursue or subdue any suspects, with the main reason, public safety. We don’t want to see people getting hurt,’’ Sgt. Shawn French said Sunday.

“We’re trained to handle these situations. We do treat them as priority calls and we try to get there in as most expeditious manner as possible.’’