'No one comes to work expecting to get shot': Man charged after firing BB gun at police in Nanaimo

The RCMP logo is seen outside Royal Canadian Mounted Police "E" Division Headquarters (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck).

Mounties say a 35-year-old man has been charged after firing a BB gun at police officers in Nanaimo, B.C.

The RCMP were called around 6 p.m. Sunday to a report of a man walking with a long gun near a wooded area between Schook Road and Dover Road.

A responding officer found the man sitting on a rock and pointing his weapon at the officer's patrol car, the RCMP said in a statement Monday.

The officer reversed the police cruiser and then stopped and exited, taking up a defensive position behind the car.

"The male shot the gun, which bounced off the patrol car and hit the officer in the leg," the RCMP said. "The officer immediately checked them self for any physical injuries and realized they had been struck with a BB pellet."

More officers responded to the scene and the man hid behind a large rock, continuing to fire at police, the RCMP said.

A BB struck one patrol car and another damaged the windshield of another police vehicle, the RCMP said.

The man then ran across a sports field and was pursued and taken down by a police dog before he was restrained by officers.

The RCMP said a black airgun, a tin of BBs and a box of compressed air cartridges were seized at the scene.

Daniel McClintock, 35, has been charged with three counts of assaulting a peace officer with a weapon, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, failing to comply with a release order and mischief, police said.

The suspect is being held in remand until Sept. 20, according to police.

"No one comes to work expecting to get shot," said Const. Sherri Wade of the Nanaimo RCMP in a statement. "We feel fortunate that none of the officers involved were seriously injured."