Craig Premack, who was shot while riding on the Trans-Canada Highway at 1 a.m. during an overnight road cycling event near Spences Bridge, B.C., in June, shows where the bullet entered his forearm during a news conference at RCMP headquarters in Surrey, B.C., on Tuesday July 29, 2014. Premack was taking part in the Cache Creek 600, a 600-kilometre, two-day cycling marathon from Pitt Meadows to Cache Creek.

Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

SPENCES BRIDGE - A cyclist who was a victim of a random shooting at Spences Bridge eight weeks ago pleaded with the public on Tuesday morning to step forward with any details on the attack which left him waiting for help on the side of the road.

“I am making a personal appeal to anyone that has any key information to please come forward,” said Craig Premack at an RCMP press conference in Vancouver.

Premack was cycling the Cache Creek 600 – a lengthy two-day marathon that starts in Pitt Meadows and ends in Cache Creek. The race is to qualify for a similar marathon in Paris.

After stopping his ride for food and a nap, Premack was back on the road around 1 a.m. on June 1. About ten minutes after he resumed, he said he was surprised by explosions next to him.

“Originally I thought they were firecrackers but then my right forearm just blew up,” he said.

Premack said he pedalled faster to escape and noticed a dark coloured vehicle driving away from the pullout close to where he was shot.

He said he survived by making a tourniquet for his arm. Premack then waited 20 minutes propped on the side of the barrier before fellow cyclists saw him and called for help.

Premack spent the night in Ashcroft Hospital before travelling to Vancouver to have surgery on his right elbow. While he has survived the attack, Premack has not been able to return to work and is waiting for his arm to heal completely before starting physiotherapy. He is concerned about the long-term effects of his injury.

“The community at large needs to be protected from this person,” said Premack in his conclusion.

“The outcome would be tragic should this ever happen again.”

Police are calling the attack brazen, violent and random. The investigation is ongoing.

RCMP Insp. Ed Boettcher is asking members of the public to come forward to police with any information and urges people to share “no matter how small or inconsequential it may seem.”

To contact a reporter for this story, email gbrothen@infotelnews.ca, or call 250-319-7494. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

News from © iNFOnews, 2014