Man, 73, arrested in mail bombing
The RCMP have arrested a 73-year-old man in connection with a mail bombing that injured a retiree in Port Alice.
The man was arrested on Thursday in Whitehorse, Yukon, and remains in custody.
His name has not been released.
The RCMP said it evacuated an apartment building at 4th Avenue and Lambert Street in Whitehorse while officers searched a residence.
“Our first priority was to the safety of the residents in the building,” the RCMP said in a statement.
“Residents returned to their homes later in the evening.”
Roger Nepper suffered serious injuries after a mail bomb exploded in his hands in Port Alice on Tuesday.
Nepper’s wife, Shirley Bowick, told CHEK News that the package exploded when her husband opened it in their Clark Drive home.
“He picked up the package and he comes home, I’m right beside him and he opened it up and it’s a bomb,” she told CHEK.
“His fingertips were basically blown off.”
RCMP said it was believed to be a targeted incident. Officers from Port Hardy and Campbell River, the RCMP explosive disposal unit, an RCMP explosives dog, forensic identification officers and general investigators were assigned to the case.
The couple’s home on Clark Drive, the post office and Scotiabank were cordoned off after the explosion.
The post office and the Clark Drive home were inspected Wednesday by a bomb squad. A bomb detecting robot was brought over from Vancouver.
Nepper, who is in his 60s, retired after a long career at the pulp mill, said friend and local councillor Bruce Lloyd.