Mounties are searching for a suspect after a man was shot outside a busy Coquitlam mall Friday afternoon.

The brazen daylight shooting took place around 3 p.m. in the parking lot of Coquitlam Centre, not far from a crowd gathered for a Heart and Stroke Foundation fundraiser.

Witness Shelly Lycan was helping at the event when she heard as many as six shots ring out. The apparent target, who was driving a black SUV, then slowly pulled up beside her group.

“His window had been broken. The girlfriend got out of the passenger side and was in a panic, a complete panic,” Lycan said.

The woman then asked for a Band-Aid, Lycan said.

“I thought to myself: he’s been shot, he needs more than a Band-Air.”

Witnesses said the gunshot wound was on the victim’s arm. The RCMP confirmed he was transported to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Mounties have launched a search for the shooter, with help from a dog team, though no vehicle or suspect descriptions have been released.

Anyone with information on the shooting can contact the RCMP.

With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Tom Popyk