A Chilliwack family driving in Abbotsford on Sunday had their car pierced by an arrow.
Wes DeLong and his family were driving down Peardonville Road in Abbotsford shortly after 12:30 pm Sunday when something hit their car.
“We didn’t know what it was,” he said. “It wasn’t a rock. In a few seconds I thought, maybe someone was shooting at us.”
The father of three pulled over the vehicle and found an inch-wide hole in the frame of his car door above the driver’s side window.
He was asked if a shot was fired at the car in a case of misidentification.
Abbotsford police initially told DeLong that they thought it was a 22-gauge bullet hole. Officers later found a 60-centimeter-long arrow on the road.
DeLong said his first reaction was one of worry and anger.
“Why would anyone do that?” He said.
Abbotsford police say he has gone door-to-door within a two-block radius to investigate and is looking for security camera footage.
Archery instructor Patricia Gonsalves said the shape of the vehicle’s hole suggests that the arrowhead was a bodkin’s tip, which was commonly used in the Middle Ages for hunting.
He says bodkin dots are often found in historical recreations and can be dangerous.
The incident, though frightening, could have been worse, he said.
The hole in the car was only 15 to 20 inches above where the driver’s head would have been.
“With the amount of force needed to actually drill the vehicle’s metal, it would have passed through the glass without any problems,” Gonsalves said.
DeLong expects the person in charge to show up. Paying damages, he says, would be a bonus.
“If it was an accident or on purpose, I would love to meet you,” he confesses, “he said.” I am a great believer in forgiveness, but also in restorative justice and doing it right. So if you want to do the right thing, please come forward and we can all move forward. “