Jonathan Bacon, one of British Columbia’s most notorious gangsters, is dead after being shot during a brazen daylight attack outside an upscale Kelowna hotel, The Province has learned.
Six people, including Bacon, were rushed to Kelowna General Hospital around 3 p.m. Sunday after at least one masked gunman opened fire on a vehicle in the parking lot of the Delta Grand Hotel, which houses the Lake City Casino.
One of the injured men is Larry Amero, a full-patch Hells Angels member from White Rock. As of Sunday evening, Amero was clinging to life, a senior police officer told The Province.
It appears the Hells Angels and a splinter group of Red Scorpions were meeting in the area. Police do not know who the shooter is yet but fear a possible all-out gang retaliation war.
B.C. Ambulance spokeswoman Kelsie Carwithen confirmed that paramedics responded to a call in the 1300-block Water Street at 3 p.m., and transported six patients — one in critical condition — to hospital.
The Province has learned one of the victims is a niece of a senior Hells Angel. She was shot in the leg and has survived.
Bacon was to stand trial this fall in B.C. Provincial Court for 15 weapons and drug charges.
He and his brothers, Jamie and Jarrod, known as the Bacon brothers, have been linked to a number of crimes in the Lower Mainland. Jamie Bacon is presently in prison, awaiting a trial for first-degree murder in the Surrey Six shootings.
Kelowna RCMP Cst. Steve Holmes said the victims were leaving the Delta Grand Hotel parking lot at 2:45 p.m. Sunday afternoon in a white Porsche sports-utility vehicle when the shooters drove up behind them.
At least one man wearing a mask and black clothing opened fire on the victims’ vehicle, which then travelled a short distance before coming to a halt.
Kelowna RCMP are asking any witnesses to come forth, though Holmes said the public should have confidence that the RCMP will find those responsible.
“Police believe that the general public is not at risk,” Holmes said. “This kind of incident is quite rare in Kelowna, but when it happens it is shocking and traumatic to those in the community.”
“The public needs to know that swift and extraordinary measures are being taken in order to ensure that those responsible will be found and brought to account before the courts,” he said.
Early photos from the scene showed paramedics tending to a male victim with closely cropped, dark brown hair and large, coloured tattoos on his arms and chest. He appeared to have wounds on his left arm and leg.
