Update: July 21, 2017
Detectives with VPD Major Crime Section continue to investigate Vancouver’s first homicide of 2017.
Just before 10:30 pm Friday night, police received a 9-1-1 call reporting shots fired at the Savoy Hotel at 258 East Hastings Street. Officers arrived to find someone had deployed bear spray in the hotel, making it difficult for everyone inside to breathe.
The officers fought through the effects of the bear spray, and discovered a man inside the hotel suffering from a gunshot wound. They carried him outside and performed CPR until paramedics took over. Unfortunately, 62-year-old Vancouver resident Joseph Billy Bustinski died a short time later in hospital.
This shooting does not appear random, and no arrests have been made.
Anyone with information about this homicide is asked to call detectives at 604-717-2500 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
No additional information will be released at this time.
