Man suffers gunshot wound, another pepper-sprayed at Strathcona Park

Vancouver police responded to Strathcona Park in East Vancouver this week for one incident involving a man with a gunshot wound and another involving pepper spray.

In the first incident, police said they were called to the park on Wednesday morning for reports that a man had been shot in the leg.

Officers arrived on the scene to find the man on the ground with a gunshot wound to his ankle.

As they tried to help the victim, “residents of the park gathered around them, and began hurling insults,” said VPD in a statement. “They refused to speak with the officers, except to say that the gun had been given to a responsible person who discarded it safely.”

The victim was taken to hospital, where he was treated for a minor graze injury and was later released. “He refused to tell police who shot him and insisted he did it himself,” said VPD.

No arrests have been made in connection to the incident.

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Then, on Thursday evening, a man called police from the park to report that he had been bear-sprayed by someone he knew and that someone else “had possibly been kicked in the head.”

When officers arrived at the park, “residents refused to allow them access to the victim” and “advised the man would be treated by park nurses,” police said.

Police said “officers were unable to get statements or investigate.”