B.C. man shot in Mexico sent home, other victim serious but stable

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One of two B.C. men shot and wounded in a strip bar in the Mexican resort town of Cabo San Lucas has been discharged from hospital and sent home to Vancouver, according to a doctor at the hospital where the two men were treated.

Speaking to CBC News, Francisco Rocha, a surgeon, said one of the victims, whom he identified simply as “Brendhan,” had been given antibiotics and painkillers for a bullet wound on his leg. The man was walking when he entered hospital, Rocha said Friday.

He has been told to go to hospital in Vancouver as soon as possible, the surgeon said.

The other victim was shot in the neck and was in stable condition in intensive care with a serious bullet wound to his neck. Rocha said the man arrived at the hospital in a quadriplegic state and may not walk again.

His condition is stable but the outlook wasn't good, Rocha said.

The Foreign Affairs Department in Ottawa has confirmed the shooting and said the two victims were Brendhan Stowe and Nguyen Minh Trung Do.

A spokesperson said Foreign Affairs was in touch with the families of the victims and Mexican authorities and was providing consular help, but had not further details of the incident.

No arrests

A Mexican newspaper, Tribuna de Los Cabos, said the two men were shot at a local topless bar called Mermaid's Table Dance early on Tuesday.

The report says a security guard and an American man who was sitting at the same table were also injured, and that the gunman fled the club shortly after the shooting.

No arrests have been made.

There has been a string of violent incidents involving Canadians in Mexico since 2006.

Bouabal Bounthavorn, 29, died after being shot three times in the head by a lone gunman last May in his Cabo San Lucas hotel room. His girlfriend, 24-year-old Masha Heikali, was shot in the foot.

Domenic and Nancy Ianiero of Woodbridge, Ont., were found with their throats slit in February 2006 at a resort near Playa del Carmen, Mexico. No arrests were ever made.

In January 2007, Adam DePrisco, 19, also of Woodbridge, was killed outside an Acapulco nightclub. A Mexican doctor blamed the teen's death on a hit-and-run driver, but his family and friends believe he was beaten to death.

In May 2007, Jeff Toews of Grande Prairie, Alta., died from injuries after he visited a nightclub in Cancun. Mexican authorities concluded he fell from the second floor of his hotel, but at the time Toews' family said his head and back injuries came from a severe beating.