Dave Mabell
LETHBRIDGE HERALD
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Criminal changes may be laid after a bullet flew through the roof of a North Lethbridge home Friday.
Meanwhile, one of the ranges at the local firearms practice facility - west of the residential community - has been ordered closed.
And Tuesday, city council learned Calgary police are being asked to verify that the bullet recovered from the home was fired from a weapon seized at the rifle range shortly after the incident.
"We're treating this as a criminal matter," council was told by Insp. Colin Catonio, speaking for the Lethbridge Regional Police Service.
When police responded to an urgent call from the affected homeowner, he said, other officers were also sent immediately to the rifle range, below Staffordville and Legacy Ridge in the river valley. Police seized two handguns, he reported.
The bullet appears to have come from one the guns, he said, so Calgary firearms experts will be asked for verification. Lethbridge police will report to city officials as soon as results are in, he added.
Careless use of a firearm is a criminal matter, he said, and Crown prosecutors will be asked to proceed with charges if the evidence is clear. They must also decide if a prosecution is in the public interest, he pointed out.
Lethbridge Fish and Game Association spokesman Allan Friesen told council Range 5, the area in question, has been closed since the Friday incident. He also outlined safety upgrades his organization has taken since the last "bullet strike" events resulted in council temporarily closing the entire facility.
The upgrades were promised when the organization urged council to allow it to resume activity, after a series of bullet strikes down range of the facility caused council to shut it a year ago. Spent bullets had been found by northside residents as far distant as 13 Street and beyond.
Video cameras have been installed throughout the facility to monitor activity, he said, and police can monitor range activity online. Video recordings may also help police verify who was pulling the trigger.
"We want to do things correctly," Friesen told council. "We don't mind if anyone is watching us."
Ashley Matthews, the city's recreation and culture manager, told council city and police officials have been meeting regularly with range officials to review safety upgrades and procedures.
Fish and Game officials will be coming to council early this spring with a proposal to move the range outside the city, Matthews said later. They'll also be asking for financial assistance to allow that to happen.
The rifle range has been operating on city-owned land in river-bottom Peenaquim Park for many decades. The association's current lease could run to 2030.