The owner of a hair salon in Nanaimo was arrested early Saturday after she allegedly fired several rounds from a rifle to thwart a break and enter.
Police responded to a glass breakage alarm at the hair salon just after 3 a.m. and found the front door smashed, a woman inside, bullet casings on the floor and several bullet holes in the interior walls.
It appeared a computer was stolen from the business.
The woman, 54, was identified as the salon owner told police suspects broke in and she had fired a rifle in self-defence.
The officers seized a .22-caliber rifle.
RCMP forensics members determined none of the bullets fired passed through the building's walls and that no one was likely injured during the incident.
The woman was arrested for careless use of a firearm and taken to the Nanaimo RCMP detachment.
She was released later that day on a promise to appear in Nanaimo provincial court Jan. 10.