Kelowna RCMP Have Suspect in City Bus Murder in Custody

Update - November 1st 4 p.m. - Charges have been laid in connection with the fatal altercation. You can read more details here.

7:00 PM UPDATE from Kelowna RCMP: The murder suspect has been taken into custody. His name cannot be released until charges have been laid.

The investigation remains a priority and is ongoing.

Cst Kris Clark with Supt Nick Romanchuk at the press conference Friday afternoon. (Photo Credit: KelownaNow)

Police are looking for the suspect from the homicide on a Kelowna city bus Thursday evening.

A 55-year-old man was killed Thursday evening in an altercation on a city bus. Police received a report of an assault at around 6:30 p.m. when a bus on Baron Road stopped at Underhill Street. According to the witnesses, the male suspect made a “shoving motion” with a weapon towards the victim as he was leaving the bus. The 55-year-old sustained a serious injury, and though other passengers gave first aid, the man died at the scene. Police are still working on notifying next of kin, so the victim's identity is not yet being released.

A police service dog established a track at the scene, but the scent was quickly lost in what the police call “difficult urban conditions”.

The suspect is still at large, and Superintendent Nick Romanchuk said that they are “very” certain that the suspect is the man who was involved. No arrests have yet been made, but there appear to be some leads on his location. Supt Romanchuk said, “I don't think at this point the location of the suspect is really something that we're unaware of.” The male suspect is believed to be local to the area and still located in the Central Okanagan. Supt Romanchuk said he believed the man has had previous dealings with police.

(Photo Credit: KelownaNow)

Kelowna RCMP are saying that this altercation appears to be a random incident. “We know that crimes of this nature are always disturbing to the community,” says Supt Romanchuk. “I would like assure the public that all resources needed for the investigation are currently in place and every effort is being made to identify and apprehend the suspect as soon as possible.” Police have a contingency plan in place to lessen further risk to the public.

RCMP are continuing to investigate and looking for more people with information on the incident. For any tips, call Kelowna RCMP at 250-762-3300. You can also remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477, leaving a tip online, or texting a tip to CRIMES (274637) ktown.