By Ian Holmes

‘I thought someone pranked me:’ victim of Nanaimo drive-by shooting testifies during attempted murder trial

Jan 17, 2019 | 1:14 PM

NANAIMO — The man inside a car sprayed by bullets in a shocking Nanaimo drive-by shooting initially thought he was caught up in a prank.

Motaz Al harbi, 31, told his story on day four of the attempted murder trial for Armaan Singh Chandi who’s accused in the 2016 shooting.

Al harbi, who the Crown believes the victim of an apparent case of mistaken identity, left VIU just prior to the shooting to go home to eat prior to an exam that evening.

He testified hearing loud noises a few seconds after he parked his car on Wakesiah Ave. at Jingle Pot Rd.

“I saw a car passing me with a guy pointing his hands towards me with a gun in his hand, he’s holding the gun sideways,” Al harbi said on Thursday.

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Al harbi couldn’t see the shooter’s fully concealed face or the driver when several shots were fired out the passenger side window of the moving car.

“I thought someone pranked me or doing some joke on me because nothing broke in the car,” Al harbi said.

He said the shooting was over in a few moments, leaving his car riddled with bullets and shell casings on his seat.

The reportedly blue Mazda four-door sedan took off towards the Nanaimo Parkway after the shooting, court was told.

While he didn’t suffer any physical injuries from the shooting, Al harbi said he struggles to sleep since the incident.

A trailing motorist who also testified on Thursday said she thought the sight of a man pointing a gun at Al harbi’s vehicle was a joke.

Crown prosecutor Nick Barber played a surveillance video from a nearby building which showed the suspect vehicle parked in a housing complex on Wakesiah Ave. It immediately left the parking stall once Al harbi arrived in his own car and drove up for the shooting before fleeing.

Chandi pleaded not guilty to five charges, including attempted murder and reckless use of a firearm.

23-year-old Inderpal Aujla pleaded guilty on Monday to attempted murder and failing to stop for police during the incident. His guilty plea on the opening day of the BC Supreme Court trail removed him from the proceedings and he’ll be sentenced at a later date. While the Crown contends Aujla was driving the suspect vehicle, Barber told NanaimoNewsNOW it’s not clear who fired the 45-glock pistol.

Two RCMP officers were injured in the chase in Ladysmith during a failed bid to box the getaway car in, according to Barber.

Chandi, who’s from Surrey, wore a black suit and sat silently in the the prisoner’s box. His trial is tentatively slated to last six more days.

He’s scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 12 in relation to an unrelated matter in August, 2017.

Court records showed those charges include assault with a weapon and uttering threats due to a stabbing in Harrison Hot Springs, when he was released on bail.

ian@nanaimonesnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes