Death of Pandosy shooting target Kyle Gianis not a suicide, claims fiancee

Photo: Contributed

Kyle Gianis

UDPATE 3:45 p.m.

The fiancee of Kyle Gianis, the West Kelowna man long-hunted by assassins and dead after an altercation in Enderby this morning, says his death was not a suicide.

Police said Gianis died as a result of what appeared to be “self-inflicted” injuries after an incident overnight at a campground that also saw two women stabbed.

“They were not suicide-inflicted injuries, he harmed himself in the situation that was going on and died because of it, but he did not commit suicide,” Lisa Kosciuk told Castanet on Thursday.

Kosciuk says she was at the campground where police say they were called for a report of an alleged double stabbing and a male suspect who was acting erratically due to possible drug impairment.

Kosciuk confirmed that two women were injured in the incident, but suggested the term “stabbing” may have been too strong, “one lady had a cut on her face.” She did not elaborate on the other woman’s injuries.

“It was an altercation. PTSD, anxiety were in the mix from his previous shootings and accidental things happened, but he did not commit suicide,” Kosciuk said.

“He accidentally injured himself and died,” she said. “He had been through so much trauma and PTSD with the threats on his life lately.”

Kosciuk maintained that the incident had nothing to do with drug-use, but would not comment on if Gianis had been using that evening.

ORIGINAL 2:30 p.m.

Police say Kyle Gianis, one of two men targeted in a brazen shooting Saturday on Kelowna’s Pandosy Street, is believed to have taken his own life.

RCMP say they were called to a campground near Enderby on Thursday just after 12 a.m. for a report of an alleged double stabbing of two women and a male suspect who was acting erratically due to possible drug impairment.

Officers swarmed the area and cordoned it off, launching a search for the man with a police dog.

At about 2 a.m., officers located Kyle Gianis down an embankment near a river in medical distress with what appeared to be self-inflicted injuries. Despite the efforts of emergency responders, Gianis died at the scene.

B.C.’s police watchdog, the Independent Investigations Office of B.C., has been called in and has launched its own probe. The agency investigates all officer-related incidents that result in serious harm or death, whether or not there is any allegation of wrongdoing.

In a separate news release, the IIO said tactical officers "cautiously approached" Gianis with the use of tear gas and a 40mm less-lethal round and discovered he was in distress. Officers provided first aid until 3 a.m. when paramedics arrived and he was pronounced dead.

The shooting Saturday evening on Pandosy Street was the fourth attempt on Gianis' life since 2017, leading police to take the extraordinary step to name him as one of two victims and a danger to public safety. The other victim, a 25-year-old from Surrey, was not named.

Prior to the Pandosy shooting, Gianis was most recently hit with bullets in March in the parking lot of Global Fitness off Harvey Avenue. The Vancouver Sun reported that he mocked his failed assassins on social media after the attempt.

In 2017, he was the target of a shooting in Langley outside a restaurant that ended up killing his friend Tyler Pastuck. Then in 2018, Surrey nurse Paul Bennett was killed when an assassin searching for Gianis went to the wrong home, reported the Vancouver Sun at the time.