Violent offender charged in downtown shooting faces new jury trial after no-show for first one

Ryan Diablo back in custody as of March 1 following warrants issued in November for missing jury trial, again in February

A violent offender charged with shooting another man downtown Chilliwack a year ago is back in his familiar orange jumpsuit at Surrey Pretrial after skipping out on a jury trial in the fall.

Ryan Diablo appeared via video in BC Supreme Court March 24, 2025, for an appearance in advance of scheduling new dates for his trial on two charges: discharging a firearm with intent to wound/disfigure, and aggravated assault.

His jury trial was scheduled for the fall in BC Supreme Court, but he didn’t show up. A warrant was first issued for his arrest on Nov. 27, 2024, but he was not located. He was scheduled in court again on Jan. 13, 2025 but, unsurprisingly, did not show up, so a second warrant was issued.

When exactly he was arrested is not clear, but he was ordered detained on March 1, so on or before that date, according to available court records online.

Diablo is charged with shooting someone that he apparently knows on Feb. 4, 2024, near or on Nowell Street by the post office. 

After being shot, the as-of-yet unnamed man made his way to Chilliwack General Hospital by himself. The victim's arrival led to the hospital to being briefly put on lockdown for safety reasons. He survived.

Three days later on Feb. 7, Ryan Diablo was arrested.

In February 2024, Chilliwack RCMP reported that the victim and Diablo knew each other. The victim is also known to police but his identity was not shared. The two are not thought to be involved in organized crime.

“There is no indication they have any ties to the Lower Mainland gang conflict,” RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Carmen Kiener said.

In court via video link from the Surrey Pretrial Centre on March 24, Diablo told the court he was in the midst of getting a lawyer. Crown counsel Aaron Burns said the original trial was scheduled for 10 days but now there are significantly more admissions so he expects it to last a month with a week for a pre-trial hearing. 

“This is getting long in the tooth,” the BC Supreme Court Justice told Diablo, and ordered him to attend via video again on March 31 to schedule the new trial.

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Paul J. Henderson
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