Justin Hunt (right) was jailed in August, while Cameron Cole (left) is free on bail. Police say both are at the centre of a Kamloops drug trade conflict that continues to pose a public safety risk.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Kamloops RCMP

The connections weren't initially clear when a string of arsons and then shootings caught police and public attention earlier this year until police named two men at the centre of the violence.

Cameron Cole and Justin Hunt were named as targets on opposing sides of gangland violence that flared up in March and persisted in the open for weeks.

One remains on bail and the other was recently jailed, but Kamloops RCMP Supt. Jeff Pelley said the danger is still present.

"Our primary focus is public safety. We ask the community remain diligent in reporting information that may be connected," Pelley said.

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Cole and Hunt still have "associates" and they're under the close eye of police, he said. Several investigations are ongoing and some are in response to the shootings and arsons, and others are more proactive and targeted.

Investigators are actively working to bring charges against people involved in drug trade violence. While he didn't provide details on those that prosecutors are pursuing, Pelley said some are before the courts.

"We have seen some results, but we certainly don't want to let off. There are associates and individuals we continue to target and we're well aware of," he said.

Although the two men at the centre of the gang conflict are making their way through the justice system, their charges don't stem directly from the shootings or arsons.

On Aug. 12, a Lower Mainland judge gave Justin Christopher Hunt a four-year prison sentence. The provincial court decision made little mention of his alleged drug trafficking connections in Kamloops and the violence of which RCMP place him at the centre.

His on-and-off girlfriend of six years lives in Kamloops, but Hunt, 25, was living in Central BC at the time of his sentencing, according to the BC Provincial Court decision.

The sentence came after a mugging in 2019. He and two others followed a couple leaving a Port Coquitlam pub and robbed them at gunpoint. The woman tried to resist as he tried taking her purse. He responded by pressing the barrel of a handgun so hard against her forehead that it drew blood.

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Police tracked Hunt and the three men in the hours that followed, finding $5,000 in cash, a cell phone and two handguns in their vehicle. They also found a more than 120 grams of cocaine, estimated to have a street value of around $9,400.

On the same day Hunt was sentenced, Cameron Ronald Cole, a man in his 40s, was arrested again. Facing multiple charges related to drugs and firearms, Cole has also been released on bail multiple times since the spring.

Kamloops RCMP warned the public again on Aug. 23 that Cole, along with the people around him, could be at risk. His bail supervisor, Kamloops RCMP officers and members of the provincial gang squad are monitoring him while he's not in custody.

Pelley wouldn't provide further details about the ongoing gang investigations nor provide any details about the organizations involved.

He wouldn't comment on whether the gang conflict is connected with a Brocklehurst shooting that left one man injured earlier this month. It's also not clear whether a recent drug lab bust in Falkland has any direct connection to the local drug trade.

Two of the earlier shootings this year did result in injuries, including one in July where it appears Cole was targeted. They were both daytime incidents when gunshots sounded in Kamloops parking lots, with Cole shot near a North Shore pub and the other at the Ramada hotel.

"We have no place for drug trafficking, violence, disregard for human life in our city," Pelley said. "We'll do everything we can to keep our streets safe."

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