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Nanaimo shotgun shooting sends man to hospital with life-threatening injuries

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A 43-year-old man is fighting for his life in hospital and another man is in police custody facing a possible attempted-murder charge after a shooting Monday near the visitor information centre in Nanaimo, B.C.

Mounties were called to a section of the Nanaimo Parkway near Northfield Road around 3:30 p.m. after several drivers reported a man lying on the southbound side of the highway suffering from a gunshot wound.

Some witnesses provided emergency first aid before paramedics arrived to transport the man to hospital in Nanaimo. The victim was later airlifted to hospital in Victoria.

Police say they identified and apprehended a suspect in the shooting within 20 minutes of the first witness reports.

The suspect was arrested without incident and is believed to live in a nearby homeless encampment.

The section of the highway was closed to southbound traffic for several hours as paramedics, firefighters and heavily armed police responded to the scene. Traffic resumed through the area around 9 p.m.

On Tuesday morning, investigators executed a search warrant in the encampment area but the weapon believed to be used in the shooting, a sawed-off shotgun, was not found, police said.

Police say the gun may be in the area of Boxwood Road and Northfield Road. Anyone who discovers the weapon is asked not to touch it, but to call 911 or the Nanaimo RCMP at 250-754-2345.

The 48-year-old suspect was expected to be charged with attempted murder late Tuesday afternoon, according to police.

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