A 43-year-old man is in custody after allegedly shooting at another car in a road rage incident at a Nanaimo intersection.
The incident occurred just before 1 p.m. on Sunday, February 5th, at the intersection of Northfield Road and Boxwood Road.
According to Nanaimo RCMP, two men, one in a Jeep Wrangler and the other in an older-model Pontiac Sunfire, exchanged words when the driver of the Jeep fired several shots into the car.
“Witnesses told police, it appeared the two vehicles had been involved in a prior road rage incident while driving northbound along the Nanaimo Parkway. The two vehicles then came to a stop at a red light. Moments later, a man exited one of the vehicles with a handgun and fired into the other vehicle,” said Cst. Gary O’Brien.
Both drivers fled the scene.
Based on information obtained from the investigation, police tracked the 17-year-old victim to a home in the Departure Bay area.
Fortunately, the teen driver of the Sunfire was not hit by any of the rounds fired into his car and the suspect in the Jeep then sped off.
Ladysmith RCMP were able to track the suspect Jeep down on Cedar Road. During inspection of the car, police say officers located a handgun and two semi-automatic rifles in the vehicle.
The 43-year-old suspect, Reza Rahiman, who is a resident of Ladysmith, was arrested for attempted murder and remains in custody, police said.
Rahiman appeared in Nanaimo Provincial Court on Monday February 6th, and was formally charged with attempted murder and discharge of a firearm with intent to injure or wound.
The Sunfire was also taken in for evidence and police confirmed it was struck several times by gunfire.
“The investigation is ongoing and more charges are pending,” O’Brien said.
The suspect remains in police custody.
Anyone who witnessed the incident or has video is asked to call the Nanaimo RCMP detachment non-emergency line at 250-754-2345 and quote file No. 2023-4128.
