POLICE – Man charged with attempted murder in liquor store robbery

(Image: Facebook)

A suspect was arrested and charged today (March 20, 2020) in connection with a liquor store robbery in which an employee was slashed with a knife.

William Bolton. (Image: RCMP)

The robbery took place at 12:25 p.m. Thursday (March 19, 2020) when a man a walked into the U District Liquor Store on the 700 block of McGill Road, seriously injured a store employee with a bladed weapon and escaped with money from the till.

A suspect photograph was released to the public and several sightings and identifications were called into RCMP. From the time of the offence and through last night, police searched for the suspect.

At about 11 a.m. today, RCMP responded to a call of a suspicious man in a backyard on Arrowstone Drive. General Duty, PDS and the Targeted Enforcement Unit responded to the area and arrested the suspect without incident.

William Bolton. (Image: RCMP)

The suspect has been identified as William Paul Bolton, 33, of no fixed address in Kamloops. He has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and robbery, and is in custody at the Kamloops RCMP detachment.

“This robbery involved a disturbing level of unprovoked and unnecessary violence. From the moment RCMP were engaged, it was a priority case to resolve,” said S/Sgt. Simon Pillay.

“Once again, the public greatly assisted us with the investigation by providing information on sightings, identity and ultimately leading us to him today. The RCMP thank the community for their engagement during these otherwise challenging times.”

Images of Bolton were released by police. Anyone who has seen him in Kamloops during the last 24 hours is asked to contact RCMP on the non-emergency line 250-828-3000.