Williams Lake Stampede directors and volunteers continue to support those impacted after two people suffered gunshot wounds behind the grandstands during the final moments of rodeo.
Court Smith, Stampede association president was saddened by the tragic end to an otherwise amazing weekend for the 94th Williams Lake Stampede.
“We had such a wonderful weekend, the weather cooperated, we had outstanding crowds, it was a great family event and then an incident like this just really kind of puts a damper on it.”
Earlier the same day, Smith had commented on how pleased but tired volunteers and directors were after what had been a very successful return of the stampede.
Monday morning, directors and volunteers continued to hand out snacks and drinks to vendors who were waiting in vehicles until they could retrieve their belongings trapped within the crime scene.
Immediately after the incident, the vendor market area behind the grandstands was evacuated.
Vendors then had to watch as a thunderstorm rolled in and blew tents, merchandise and other equipment into disarray.
The massive inflatable Coors Light can at the top of the grandstands actually blew off in the strong gusts, reportedly hitting a vehicle before it continued to roll through town.
The vendors are still waiting as RCMP process the scene, with access being predicted for sometime this afternoon.
It was a rough ending to the weekend for Stampede supporters, but Smith acknowledged the quick action by volunteers and announcer Tyson Pietsch.
“It was amazing how the evacuation plan worked,” said Smith, as he explained how the plan had to be revised on the fly, as normal evacuation procedure would have been to have people go out the top entrances as well.
Instead, the sold-out grandstands had to be evacuated through the arena to keep people away from the location of the shooting.
Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Lorne Doerkson was also volunteering on Monday morning, handing out the coffee and food to keep the vendors going as they waited for word on retrieving their items.
Doerkson described the events of the previous night, which he was on hand for as well. He was setting up for the volunteer appreciation dinner when the shooting occurred.
He emphasized it is believed to be a “targeted shooting” according to the RCMP.
“It was shocking that that happened in our community,” said Doerkson.
Vendor Lauren Hardy from Vanderhoof told the Tribune how she witnessed volunteers risk their lives to ensure everyone got to safety after the shooting took place.
The shooting occurred just as the association was preparing for their volunteer appreciation dinner event and Smith said he received a call from True Catering just moments after the shooting took place to tell them the caterer was about to head for town with the meals.
Smith immediately told her to stay away from the area and the assocation made the decision this morning to donate the 150 meals to area seniors.
Glenda Winger will coordinate the distribution of the meals to the seniors.
Read more: Two people shot behind grandstands during Williams Lake Stampede, 1 man arrested
Read more: Jordell Sellars, 33, charged in Williams Lake Stampede shooting that left 2 injured
ruth.lloyd@wltribune.com
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