A Penticton man was shocked when he was swimming in Skaha Lake on Thursday night and came across a gun on top of the sand underneath the water. “I just went to the beach to have a swim to cool off,” Shaun, who Castanet has agreed to refer to only by his first name for his protection, said. He had headed to his usual spot between Penticton and Okanagan Falls, going for a swim into the lake off of a pullout in a quieter area. That’s when he found the firearm. “I went, ‘Oh no,’” he said. “I mean you see a gun in the lake it’s never a good thing.” “It was just crazy. I’ve been there every day this week. Not today, but every day this week, and I didn’t notice it.” Shaun said that he first thought it might have been an airsoft or BB gun, but after picking it up, he knew it was too heavy not to be real. “I kind of know firearms a little bit. So I was looking at it and it had all the workings of a real one.” He noticed that it appeared that the gun had been damaged by a hacksaw and was no longer operable. Shaun then called the police. “I thought I should probably call it in, it’s not dangerous at all. You can’t do anything with it. But I was thinking maybe they’re looking for it.” Shaun said police confirmed to him that the gun was real. He shared his findings on a local Facebook page to let the community know what he had discovered. Castanet has reached out to the RCMP for more information and will update. Photo: Shaun
