Iron Athletics Inc. owner Kyle Gianis.
Image Credit: Instagram/ironathletics_official
March 31, 2021 - 2:14 PM
The victim of a brazen daytime shooting has a history of targeted assassination attempts and ties with gangs.
The Vancouver Sun reported Iron Athletics Inc. owner Kyle Gianis was injured in a shooting that took place outside of the Global Fitness Centre in Kelowna Monday, March 29. RCMP said he was treated at the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.
Witnesses saw a man fleeing the scene of the shooting in a silver four-door sedan. A short time later, it was spotted on fire on Longhill Road in Kelowna.
READ MORE: RCMP put out call for witnesses, dash cam video after shooting in Kelowna gym parking lot
Last week, footage from local media outlets showed the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, B.C. 's integrated anti-gang police agency, searching a home in the 3200 block of Vineyard View Drive. The home is the site of Iron Athletics Inc., according to videos previously sent by Gianis to iNFOnews.ca.
The company, based out of the West Kelowna home, came under fire last year after holding a workout contest inside the home with people across the country amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gianis was shot in 2017 outside of a Langley restaurant. His friend Tyler Pastuck was killed and drug trafficker David Tull was sentenced last November to almost 12 years in jail for conspiracy to murder Gianis. In 2018, a Surrey nurse was killed in a case of mistaken identity. The target was intended to be Gianis, according to the Vancouver Sun.
In an Iron Athletics YouTube video posted last year, Gianis said he grew up in Surrey and started drug dealing at a young age. He said he was arrested in Mexico for drug trafficking in 2007 and was sentenced to 13 years in U.S. jail.
He was transferred to a Canadian jail in 2012 and was granted parole in 2013. In prison he had associated with United Nations and Dhak-Duhre gang members, according to The Vancouver Sun. Gianis said afterwards he was diagnosed with cancer.
He said he had turned his life around with his new clothing company.
RCMP and Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit did not immediately return a request for comment.
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