VICTORIA -- A 28-year-old man has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison after a shooting in Langford last year.
Justin Lemmen was found guilty on April 3 of several weapons-related charges after a shooting near the Happy Valley Market at 3431 Happy Valley Rd. on April 23, 2019.
Lemmen was charged the following day with unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of a prohibited firearm in a motor vehicle and two counts of failure to comply with prior conditions.
Lemmen remains in police custody as the West Shore RCMP investigation into the incident continues.
A report of shots fired outside the market brought police to the scene around 10:45 a.m. that morning.
Two drivers believed to be involved in the incident fled in separate vehicles. Minutes later, a crash occurred on Veterans Memorial Parkway involving a suspect vehicle.
"Immediately our officers were on scene and able to apprehend and arrest the driver of that vehicle, who was the only occupant, and seize a firearm from that vehicle," West Shore RCMP spokesperson Const. Nancy Saggar said at the time.
The second vehicle, a brown Cadillac de Ville, was later recovered on Leila Road in Colwood with what appeared to be a bullet hole in its rear driver's-side window.
Police said they believed the shooting was "targeted and isolated."