Police are on the lookout for a man who waived a long-barrel rifle at a group of children during a birthday party on Feb. 21.
That night, Merritt resident Bobby Garcia was at home wrapping gifts for his 10-year-old son’s birthday.
The Garcias had about 12 children over to the house for their son’s party, who were playing in the backyard with cap-guns when at about 6 p.m. the party came to a halt.
The children came inside the house to tell him there was someone outside with a gun and he was in Garcia’s truck.
“At first I thought they were just joking around, but then my nephew came in – and he’s 14 – and he said ‘No, Uncle Bob, there’s really a guy in your truck with a gun,’” Garcia said, noting the serious tone of his nephew’s voice convinced him it was no joke.
Garcia said his son and two other nephews, who are between nine and 10 years old, told him the man pointed the gun at them and told them not to move.
Garcia’s truck was parked in his backyard just outside the garage of his home on Coldwater Avenue. His backyard is open to the alley behind his house, Garcia told the Herald.
He went outside and saw a man walking down the alley with a rifle on his back.
Garcia got into his other car and drove up alongside the man.
When he did this, he said the man took a step back and pointed the rifle at him. His finger was on the trigger, Garcia said.
“And I could see in his face that he wasn’t kidding around, so I stomped on the gas and I just took off as fast as I could because I didn’t know what this guy was going to do,” Garcia said.
“It was pretty intense.”
He stopped his car by the Elks Hall and the man walked by his vehicle as if nothing had happened, Garcia said.
Garcia watched the man until he disappeared into the night somewhere between the Ska-Lu-La workshop and Quilchena Avenue.
He said the man was staggering and appeared intoxicated. Garcia described him as a native man, about 5-foot-7, wearing a baggy camoflage-printed jacket.
The male was also described as approximately 25 years old with a skinny build and some facial hair. He was carrying a rifle with a scope.
The man did not steal anything from the truck, Garcia said.
“There was even a $5 bill in my console and he didn’t take that, so I don’t know if he was trying to steal the truck or if he was just too drunk [and] he didn’t know what he was doing,” Garcia said.
Garcia called the police who responded in about four minutes, he said.
The RCMP sent out their Police Dog Services and Forensic Identification Services, but the man was not found.
Garcia said the next day, an RCMP member from Kamloops came to his residence, examined his truck and found a fingerprint, but wasn’t sure if it would yield any results.
On Feb. 23, the police called Garcia and said the print was being put into their database. He also said they informed him that they had a person of interest in regards to the incident.
Garcia said his son and nephews who had the gun pointed at them were shaken up by the incident.
“They were super scared. They’re still super scared,” Garcia said on Feb. 24, noting RCMP Victim Services were coming to talk with the three children that day.
Garcia said his whole family has been shaken up by the incident.
“We don’t know who this guy is,” Garcia said.
Garcia’s home is located near Merritt Secondary School and he’s never had any problems.
“We have tons of schoolkids walking through the alley at all times, and we’ve never had a problem,” Garcia said.
Merritt RCMP Staff Sgt. Sheila White told the Herald that they can only confirm that no arrests have been made in regards to this case so far, but could not confirm if police had a person of interest.
