Salmon Arm shooting victim lovingly remembered by foster child

The community of Salmon Arm remains in mourning to start the week after a shocking shooting over the weekend.

On Sunday, Gord Parmenter was gunned down while attending a church service at the Salmon Arm Church of Christ by a 25-year-old suspect who remains in police custody at this time.

A former foster child hosted by Parmenter and his wife Peggy spoke to the media on Monday, where he lovingly remembered the B.C. man.

The foster son said the Parmenters took him and several other foster children in over the years because Gord Parmenter had volunteered to be the emergency placement home in Salmon Arm.

“Gord and Peggy were more than foster parents. They treated me like their own kin,” the former foster child, who can’t be named, wrote in an email to The Canadian Press.

“Gordon was driven by his faith and helping people was his way of serving God. I was a very complex case and complexity is what Gord specialized in. He helped me become who I am today, and always with a laugh.”

The former foster son said he wept for an hour after learning Parmenter had been killed.

“Without him I never would have made it to Grade 12. I was fear-stricken at the thought of attending classes. However, I was able to reintegrate into the school system in Grade 11. I am now in my third term of college. I would not be there were it not for Gord.”

RCMP have said charges are pending against the suspect.

With files from the Canadian Press.