Youth Charged with Possession of a Handgun
A young person in Penticton has been charged with the possession of a handgun after a police investigation revealed several round were discharged last weekend.
On March 10th, 2012 shortly before 11 p.m, Penticton RCMP and the police dog unit responded to a complaint of shots being fired in the 1700 block of Quebec Street.
The caller claimed to have observed several youth in the area in possession of what they believed to be a handgun.
Police arrived to question the teens. Further investigation of the youths revealed that one of the youths was concealing an unloaded .357 Magnum handgun as well as live ammunition.
As a result, a 16-year old male was arrested.
No individuals were injured but the investigation did reveal that several rounds were discharged in different locations within Penticton. It was also revealed that the handgun had been stolen during an earlier break-and-enter.
The owner, though reported the break and enter, had not reported the theft of the handgun to the police at the time.
The youth in possession of the weapon was released by the courts on March 15th with a number of conditions which including a 24 hour curfew and medical treatment.
As a standard safety precaution the Penticton RCMP shared the information with the local school district since they were dealing with a serious matter which may have involved their students.
Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Penticton RCMP at 250-492-4300 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
