Conference starts around 12-minute mark
A Burnaby cyclist who was wounded in a late-night shooting during a 600-kilometre race through B.C. in June is calling on any witnesses to come forward with their information for the ongoing investigation.
Around 1 a.m. on June 1, Craig Premack was riding alone in the Cache Creek 600 along the Trans-Canada Highway when he was shot in the arm. As he started to bleed out, Premack used his pants as a tourniquet and propped himself up against the roadside barrier.
“For a moment, I was worried – I was wondering if this was the end,” he told reporters. “After the longest 20 minutes of my life, I could see the lights of what could only be my cycling friends.
Photo of pull out near the shooting scene
“I’m extremely thankful to them for the aid and support they gave me while waiting for emergency personnel to arrive.”
Before pulling to the side of the road, Premack saw a dark-coloured vehicle drive away from a pull out near the scene of the shooting.
Insp. Ed Boettcher, the officer in charge of “E” Division communication services, said the attack is believed to be random, though he noted that other cyclists reported two separate incidents in which two men in a dark-coloured pickup truck threw objects at them along the course.
“At this point, there is nothing tying these incidents to Mr. Premack’s shooting, but our investigators are looking to identify these men so that we can eliminate them as potential suspects,” said Boettcher.
As a result of the shooting, Premack hasn’t been medically cleared to get back on a bike, nor has he been able to return to work, which has burdened him financially.
“The shooting of Mr. Premack was a brazen, unprovoked, potentially deadly attack, and we’re very fortunate today to be talking about a shooting and not a homicide,” said Boettcher.
Anyone with information regarding the shooting or other incidents is asked to call Lytton RCMP at 250-455-2225, or to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
