Prosecutors drop case against man accused in Nanaimo homeless camp shooting

The British Columbia Prosecution Service has dropped its case against a 37-year-old man who was accused of shooting a man who was trying to retrieve suspected stolen property from a homeless camp in Nanaimo earlier this year.

The British Columbia Prosecution Service has dropped its case against a 37-year-old man who was accused of shooting a man who was trying to retrieve suspected stolen property from a homeless camp in Nanaimo earlier this year.

Craig Truckle, of no fixed address, was arrested on March 22, more than a week after Clint Smith, 49, was shot in the stomach and seriously injured at the downtown homeless encampment.

Truckle was charged the following morning with one count of pointing a firearm without a lawful excuse.

Smith and six or seven other people visited the encampment in Barsby Park to retrieve property they believed was stolen from Smith's auto repair shop.

A statement from the B.C. Prosecution Service says the charge against Truckle was stayed Wednesday, ending the Crown's case against him due to a lack of evidence and inability to prove the accused was not acting in self-defence.

"Considering all the available evidence and applying the legal elements of self-defence to that evidence, the Crown would be unable to disprove self-defence or defence of others beyond a reasonable doubt," the statement said.

"The Crown could not establish that the accused’s response in defending himself and his group from an unprovoked attack was disproportionate or unreasonable in the circumstances."