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Man wanted in Chilliwack fatal shooting was due in court for domestic assault charge that day

Slain women were staying together in Chilliwack for safety after strangulation attempt, says friend
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Chilliwack RCMP on scene in the 9700-block of McNaught Road near Yale Road on Thursday, July 21, 2022 for a triple shooting where two people were killed. (Jenna Hauck/ Chilliwack Progress file)

As police homicide investigators race to find the armed and dangerous man believed to have shot three people – two of who are dead – in Chilliwack Thursday (July 21), more details are coming to light about the violent history of the suspect, 50-year-old Eric John Shestalo.

Two women and a man were shot at a residence in the 9700-block of McNaught Road, and Shestalo was named that night as the man now being sought by the RCMP’s Integrated Homicide Investigation Team (IHIT).

Of the two women who were killed, one was the mother of the alleged shooter’s child, and the other was a former girlfriend, according to friends and family of the victims.

READ MORE: 2 dead, suspect still at large

A friend of one of the women said on social media late Thursday that the two women had been staying together in Chilliwack for “safety” reasons, after Shestalo allegedly tried to strangle his former girlfriend two months ago.

READ MORE: IHIT investigates triple shooting

Shestalo had been due in Chilliwack Law Courts Thursday morning for a listed domestic assault case. Court database lists that the man is due in court for his next appearance on Aug. 5.

Shestalo also has an assault charge before the courts from July 6 in Vancouver.

Shestalo was described as white, five foot, nine inches tall, 176 pounds and was last seen wearing black pants, black jacket and a black hat with orange rim. He was last seen driving a red 1990 Jeep YJ, with a yellow front end and may have licence plate MT9 81W.

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Jennifer Feinberg

About the Author: Jennifer Feinberg

I have been a Chilliwack Progress reporter for 20+ years, covering the arts, city hall, as well as Indigenous, and climate change stories.
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