A 40-year-old Trail man is facing drugs and weapons-related charges after police responded to a report of gunshots coming from a rural property in Warfield.
They say they arrived at the 1300 block of Highway 3B on the afternoon of Jan. 24 to find three men standing in a driveway.
One of them was holding a sawed-off shotgun and admitted he had fired it. He handed it over to an officer after showing that it was unloaded. He admitted he didn’t have a license for the weapon.
The shotgun was considered prohibited because of its length. The man was arrested and a search subsequently turned up ammo, body armor, 21 grams of what was believed to be fentanyl, 2.7 grams of suspected meth, and 6.5 grams of suspected cocaine.
The man also had an outstanding warrant for missing a court date.
William David Tyler was released on conditions. He will face charges of possession of a prohibited weapon, possession of a firearm without a license, possession of body armor without a permit, and three counts of drug possession.
Police said Tyler co-operated with them.
“It is a lot easier for the police to enforce the law when the accused does something to attract our attention such as in this incident,” Sgt. Mike Wicentowich said in a news release.
It’s not clear why the shots were fired.
Cell phone triggers 911 call
For the second time in recent months, a skier’s cell phone called 911.
Police say they called the number where it originated from and spoke to a woman who told them she was skiing when her phone activated an SOS due to her physical activity, not a crash.
“Please be aware if your cell phone has this automatic crash notification,” Wicentowich said, noting that it prompts a priority investigation. “If you accidentally trigger such an alert, please contact your local police agency immediately to report it.”
Damage to vehicle parked in rural area
Police say someone smashed a window of a vehicle parked at a popular backcountry ski touring location of Highway 3B near Rossland. However, nothing was stolen.
Police say it’s the second such incident recently, so they recommend locking your vehicle and removing all valuables.