Notorious gangster targeted in Kelowna shooting dies in Enderby campground
Posted August 6, 2021 7:27 am.
Last Updated August 6, 2021 7:32 am.
ENDERBY (NEWS 1130) — Kyle Gianis, the man who survived a targeted shooting in Kelowna Saturday, has died just a few days later at an Okanagan campground.
The BC RCMP says they received a call after midnight Thursday of an alleged double stabbing of two women.
The male suspect was believed to be impaired and acting erratically. Police say he had left the area by the time officers arrived.
Using police dogs, the officers with the Southeast District Emergency Response Team found him two hours later down an embankment near a river.
The Independent Investigations Office says the officers approached with the use of tear gas and a 40mm less-lethal round.
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He was observed to be in medical distress from self-inflicted injuries.
Officers and paramedics tried to save him but he died on scene at around 3 a.m.
The 37-year-old had ties to the ongoing gang conflict, and has been the subject of a recent public warning after he was released from hospital over the weekend.
Gianis, owner of fitness company Iron Athletics, was featured on a reality show filmed in West Kelowna in 2020 about body building.
The series drew criticism for scoffing pandemic restrictions by inviting competitors to live together in a home.
The BC RCMP said that anyone associating with him could become collateral damage if he was targeted again.
He was one of two people injured in a daylight shooting in a busy area of Kelowna Saturday.
Watch: Kelowna RCMP release surveillance video after the double shooting
The second man, a 25-year-old from Surrey, remains in hospital in life-threatening condition.
At the crime scene, investigators found an unexploded improvised device, which the RCMP’s Explosive Disposal Unit determined that if detonated, could have caused serious harm to innocent people.
The Kelowna RCMP called it a dramatic escalation of violence connected to the gang conflicts, which have left several people dead in recent months and have spilled out beyond the Lower Mainland.
Mounties released a video of the suspect in the double shooting. No arrests have been made.
His death will now be investigated by the IIO, which looks into whether the actions of police may have led to serious harm or death.
