A 61-year-old man suspected of shooting a bike store owner in Yaletown Tuesday and exchanging several rounds of gunfire with police is a former employee of the victim, Deputy Chief Doug LePard announced Wednesday.
LePard said police haven’t established a motive in the shooting of Reckless bike shop owner Paul Dragan but investigators are examining the suspect’s mental health.
“It’s certainly part of the investigation but it’s too early for me to confirm that now,” LePard told reporters at the Cambie Street headquarters of the Vancouver Police Department. “Just on the face of what happened, you have to wonder about that.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, the victim and the suspect were in serious condition in hospital while one female officer is recovering from wounds to her face from flying glass.
Gerald Mark Battersby has been charged with six counts of attempted murder after he allegedly shot Dragan outside a Starbucks on Davie Street at Marinaside Crescent. Battersby is then alleged to have engaged in two separate gun battles with police — the first outside the Starbucks and the second outside the Telus World of Science.
Five of the counts are for attempting to kill officers, two of whom were about to go for coffee at the Starbucks around 11 a.m. when Dragan was shot on the sidewalk outside their unmarked Ford sedan. Dragan’s bike shop is located across the street from the Starbucks on a trendy strip of Yaletown, near the waterfront.
The officers, whom LePard said were detectives from the major crime unit, immediately challenged the suspect with their guns. In doing so, a bullet shattered the window of their car, with flying glass hitting a female officer inside. A large lobby window to an adjacent condominium building was also shot out in the exchange of gunfire before the suspect fled on a bicycle along the seawall.
Officers gave chase, including one who commandeered a bicycle, before other officers intercepted the suspect outside the Telus World of Science.More shots were fired, with another police car getting its back window shot out before police bullets dropped the suspect and he was arrested.
“I’m in awe of the professionalism and courage that our officers displayed — who literally were running into danger as people were fleeing and diving for cover,” said LePard, who has reviewed video of the shootout outside the World of Science.
LePard said the suspect is also facing firearms charges and that he did not “legally possess” the gun recovered from him. The suspect has some criminal history but LePard wouldn’t elaborate, except to say it wasn’t extensive.
The deputy chief used the words miraculous and extraordinary to describe what he said was a rare event in Vancouver, one he has never experienced in his 33 years on the job. He maintained the city has “never been safer,” noting homicides and violent incidents have decreased.
“I don’t think that people in that neighbourhood or really any neighbourhood in Vancouver should be worried about being the victim of a random shooting,” he said. “I don’t expect to see something like this — knock on wood — for another generation.”
Mayor Gregor Robertson issued a statement Tuesday, saying "we owe tremendous thanks for the courage and fast action" of all officers involved in the shootings. Robertson doubles as chairperson of the Vancouver Police Board and works closely with Police Chief Jim Chu.
"I know this has been very upsetting for the many people who witnessed the attack, and for those who live and work in the neighbourhood," the mayor said. "My thoughts are with the victim, the injured officer and their friends and families during this difficult time."
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