2 Friends Were Shot At While Exploring An Alberta Property & They Thought It Was Abandoned

Two friends were exploring what they thought was an abandoned property in rural Alberta this summer when they were shot at multiple times and one even took a gunshot to the leg.

Police released a statement on September 22 saying they had spoken to the victim with the gunshot wound after he was treated at the Viking Hospital on June 5.

The man told police that he and his friend "stopped at what appeared to be an abandoned rural property and were exploring."

However, they were "suddenly" shot at multiple times by an unknown male. One of them was struck in the leg, and the injury wasn't life-threatening.

After investigating the incident, police said that they used a warrant to search a rural property on June 10 and discovered a total of 14 loaded firearms, including eight restricted firearms.

After the discovery of the guns, 59-year-old Robin Switzer was arrested on August 25.

Switzer is facing 22 charges, including 14 counts of careless storage of a firearm and eight counts of unauthorized possession of a firearm.

Switzer was released from custody and was due to appear at Fort Saskatchewan Provincial Court on September 22.

According to the RCMP, "firearms in Canada fall into three classes: non-restricted, restricted and prohibited."

In Alberta, anybody who wants to hold or use firearms must have a Possession and Acquisition Licence and for restricted firearms, the user has to have a specific licence, still according to the RCMP.

Restricted firearms include some handguns, firearms that have a barrel less than 470 millimetres in length, those capable of discharging centre-fire ammunition in a semi-automatic manner, and firearms that have been "designed or adapted to be fired when reduced to a length of less than 660 mm by folding, telescoping or otherwise."

Full details of which categories firearms come under can be found on the RCMP website.

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.