Christmas Day shooting leads to jail time

A Pleasant Grove man who shot two people in his home on Christmas Day in 2015 was sentenced Tuesday to one year in jail.

Matthew Brian Misener, 31, pleaded guilty in P.E.I. Supreme Court to assault with a weapon, careless storage of a firearm and possessing a firearm without a licence.

That one-year sentence was a joint recommendation from the Crown and defence and reduced the number of charges down from the initial 12. During Tuesday’s proceedings, Crown attorney Jeff MacDonald read from an agreed statement of facts, saying Misener and victims Matthew Clarke and Brodie McQuaid were known to each other.

Clarke sent Misener several angry Facebook messages the week before the shooting. On Christmas Eve, Misener was home with a friend while Clarke was with McQuaid and a third person.

All of the people involved in the shooting were drinking. At around 1 a.m. on Christmas Day, Clarke and McQuaid went to Misener’s home with the third man.

After the victims exited the vehicle, Misener pointed a .17-calibre rifle out his kitchen window, warned the two men to get off his property and tried to fire a warning shot.

The gun didn’t fire so Misener loaded a new round and tried unsuccessfully to fire again.

After the second misfire, Misener went to his bedroom to get a .22-calibre rifle and while he was in there, McQuaid and Clarke entered the home. McQuaid then got into an altercation with Misener while Clarke got into one with Misener’s friend.

Misener had the rifle in his hands as he and McQuaid moved into the living room where McQuaid was shot three times during the altercation. Misener then went to the kitchen, aimed the rifle at Clarke’s buttocks and fired.

Clarke continued to struggle with Misener’s friend despite the gunshot wound. Misener turned the rifle around and hit Clarke with it, ending the altercation.

He then returned to the living room, applied pressure to McQuaid’s wounds and yelled for someone to call 911. McQuaid and Clarke were treated in hospital, and the court heard they have recovered from their injuries.

The Crown attorney said a toxicology report from the hospital showed McQuaid’s blood alcohol level was 1.5 times the legal limit and Clarke’s was twice the limit. Misener admitted to the RCMP that he fired the rifle and showed the police where he put the weapons.

He was also treated in hospital for a fracture in his hand.

In agreeing to the one-year sentence, Justice Wayne Cheverie said the facts of the case were serious with a deadly combination of firearms and alcohol. Cheverie sentenced Misener to one year on each of the charges, all to be served concurrently, and ordered him to pay $300 in victim surcharges. McQuaid and Clarke were both charged with break and enter and assault after the shooting.

Both men pleaded not guilty and are scheduled for trial starting April 18.