A 28-year-old Prince George man is in custody following a shots-fired incident at a residence in Quesnel.
Eric John Vining was arrested in Prince George late Friday night, a bit more than 12 hours after Quesnel RCMP were called to a West Fraser Drive home in the community of 10,000 people 116 kilometres south of Quesnel.
Police, who received the call at 10:45 a.m., determined that a man pulled a handgun and demanded money before pulling the trigger.
"It is extremely fortunate that no one was struck by the gunfire," Quesnel RCMP Cst. Krista Volyk said.
The suspect took off in a blue pickup truck which was found engulfed in flames on Marsh Road in Quesnel less than 90 minutes later.
Shortly before midnight the same day, Vining was arrested in Prince George when Prince George RCMP crime reduction team members saw Vining in the back yard of a 300 block Freeman Street home.
Vining pointed a laser-sighted firearm at two officers and a loaded semi-automatic SKS rifle was found in the vicinity after his arrest, Prince George RCMP Cpl. Craig Douglass said, and added the rifle was confirmed stolen from a Shelley Road home on June 11.
A large quantity of dried marijuana, a small quantity of methamphetamine, a machete and ammunition were also found in the Freeman Street home, according to police.
Vining, who made a first appearance in Prince George provincial court on Monday, faces eight charges, including two counts of pointing a firearm. He's next scheduled to appear in Quesnel provincial court on July 9 to elect counsel.
Vining is well known to police and the courts.
In 2004, he was sentence to two years in jail for dangerous driving causing death for an Aug. 2003 incident in which he drove a stolen car in to a lamppost at the intersection of Highways 16 and 97, killing his passenger, Christopher Brown.
Starting in October 2007, his record shows several convictions for various theft and weapons related offences for which he's been sentenced to jail terms ranging from 15 days to four months and has been on Prince George RCMP's prolific offender list for more than three years.
