MAN SHOT BY MASKED TRIO DURING VIOLENT GROW RIP

A 38-year-old Richmond man is still in hospital recovering from a
gunshot wound sustained in a marijuana grow rip operation Saturday
night.

The man was shot in the stomach after three masked men reportedly
kicked in the door of the house where he lives around 9 p.m. looking
for pot.

Police did, in fact, find marijuana growing in a garage behind the
dilapidated house.

"There was approximately a 200-plant grow op in an outbuilding," said
RCMP Cpl. Peter Thiessen. "Whether there will be charges laid against
the victim, it's not clear at this point."

It's unclear if the three men actually managed to make off with any
pot before fleeing.

A neighbour said RCMP showed up in the area looking not only for the
three suspects, but the victim as well.

"Someone from the house, they said, had phoned and had been shot at,"
said the neighbour, who added she fears for her safety and did not
want to be identified.

She later saw police carrying bags of marijuana out of the house, so
if thieves managed to steal any, they didn't get all of it.

Police have not released the name of the victim, whom the neighbour
said has lived alone in the house for several years.

Realtor Francis Futama, a relative of the owners, showed up Monday.
He said he only learned about the incident Sunday
night when he saw the house pictured on the news, and was unaware that
someone had been shot.

Futama said he visited to collect the rent - sometimes two or three
times per month - because the tenant had little money and had to pay
in installments. He said he observed no evidence of a marijuana grow
op on those occasions.

Under a Richmond bylaw, landlords are required to inspect rental
premises on a regular basis, or face cleanup and policing costs
related to marijuana grow ops.

A neighbour blamed absentee landlords and the City of Richmond for
allowing the area to deteriorate to a point where she no longer feels
safe in her own home.

"The city is allowing the absentee landlords to let the neighbourhood
go to ruin," she said.