Vernon’s SilverStar Mountain Resort and its former ownership have been taken to court over an airsoft gun shooting that allegedly occurred at the ski resort’s village on Christmas night 2024 and left a Lake Country man with post-traumatic stress disorder.
In a notice of civil claim filed earlier this year, David Martyn alleged he was walking alone towards the SilverStar village for a Christmas dinner reservation around 5:15 p.m. when he was shot at multiple times from the window of a staff housing building.
“The first shot narrowly missed (Martyn’s) head, audibly whistling past his ear,” the claim states. “(Martyn) believes this shot was an attempted headshot that, had it connected, would likely have resulted in catastrophic injury or death.”
Martyn took cover behind a retaining wall after realizing he’d been shot at and began yelling in the direction of the building, according to the lawsuit. Despite verbal warnings from Martyn, two more shots were fired in his direction.
The claim illustates a scene in which Martyn is running towards the staff housing building using snowbanks for partial cover. When he reached the building he was no longer in the shooter’s sightlines.
“The shooter was clearly aware that (Martyn) had recognized he was being shot at, eliminating any suggestion of accidental discharge or misidentification. There were no other plausible targets in the vicinity,” the lawsuit states.
After the alleged shooting, Martyn attempted to enter the staff housing buildng to identify or confront the shooter but was unable to gain access. He then ran into a member of SilverStar’s management team and told them about the shooting and where the shots had come from. The staff member contacted security, according to the claim.
The lawsuit launched by Martyn, who is representing himself in the matter, claims there were several SilverStar staff members engaged in what looked like a staff party with open alcohol, drinking in the doorway and lobby of the staff housing building. He claims that upon overhearing his account of the shooting, the staff members abruptly dispersed.
Martyn was without his phone and needed to see his family, so he attended the Christmas dinner, the claim states.
He would later return to the building to walk security through the scene. While there, he noticed a significant security presence and saw the window he had identified was actively being investigated. Martyn was advised that the RCMP would be contacted.
The next day, Dec. 26, 2024, Martyn was contacted by the head of operations for SilverStar, who told him that this was the third shooting incident at the ski resort involving employees, all of whom were foreign nationals who had acquired firearms shortly after arriving to Canada to work at the resort, the claim alleges.
Martyn was also told in this conversation that the employee involved in the shooting had been detained by immigration authorities and would soon be expelled from Canada. The head of operations had allegedly added that it would be difficult to pursue charges, according to the RCMP, due to the shooter’s imminent removal from the country.
The RCMP did not follow up with Martyn directly, according to the claim. When Martyn contacted the Vernon RCMP on Dec. 28, he was told the RCMP had not been contacted by SilverStar on the night of the incident, and that by the time they were notified the alleged shooter had already been removed from the resort. As well, it was by then too late to gather evidence from the scene and as a result there were no grounds to pursue charges.
Martyn alleges he later found out that the individual in question had not been detained by immigration authorities and had not been expelled from Canada, despite what SilverStar had told him.
He alleges that the shooter went on to gain employment at another prominent ski resort in the Okanagan in a public-facing role.
“The plaintiff pleads that SilverStar’s actions and omissions constitute negligent handling of a serious public safety matter and represent a breach of their duty of care to guests, staff and the public,” the claim states.
Martyn says he’s been formally diagnosed with PTSD since the incident, with symptoms including anxiety, insomnia and social withdrawal.
Response from SilverStar and POWDR
SilverStar was owned by Utah-based company POWDR from 2019 up until late last month, when POWDR announced it had sold the resort to Pacific Group Resorts. Both SilverStar and POWDR filed responses to Martyn’s notice of civil claim, and both denied most of the allegations made.
SilverStar admitted that it employed a man named Taylor Scathorne (various other documents refer to him as Taylor Scothorne), who lived in staff accommodations at the resort. It said at the time of the incident, Scathorne was off the clock. The resort added it had no knowledge “whatsoever” that Scathorne had a compressed air BB gun in his possession and on its premises.
“Upon being informed of the incident … Silver Star Ski Resort staff commenced an immediate investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident,” SilverStar’s court filing states. “Taylor Scathorne admitted to Silver Star Ski Resort that he had fired shots from a compressed gas BB gun from a window at staff accommodations but he denied that he was aware that anyone was in the area prior to him firing the BB gun.”
SilverStar alleges it immediately took the airsoft gun away from Scathorne, evicted him from staff accommodations, fired him, reported the incident to the RCMP and cooperated fully with the police investigation.
“Silver Star Ski Resort denies that it was responsible for the conduct of an off duty employee whose actions at the time of the incident had nothing whatsoever to do with his duties as a Silver Star Ski Resort employee,” reads SilverStar’s response.
Meanwhile, POWDR denied any responsibility for the incident, blaming “the other defendants or parties not yet named in this action” for any injury, loss or damage Martyn suffered. The company also denied that its servants or agents were negligent or in breach of any duty of care owed to Martyn.
A John Doe is also named as a defendant in the case.
Some airsoft guns are not powerful enough to cause serious injury or death, while other air guns meet the Criminal Code definition of a firearm, even if they aren’t legally deemed firearms, according to the RCMP. Either way, airsoft guns that are replicas of real firearms are illegal in Canada.
None of the allegations in this story have been proven in court.
The Morning Star has reached out to SilverStar and POWDR for comment.