Man who shot at police, sister was thinking suicide, court told

Saskatoon police officers showed “remarkable restraint” by not firing at Kevin John Levandoski while he repeatedly shot at police and his sister during a standoff on Coppermine Crescent, the Crown said during Levandoski’s sentencing hearing on Monday.

When he armed himself with a .22-calibre rifle following a drunken argument with his sister and fired nearly 20 shots — both inside and outside the north-end home — Levandoski wasn’t trying to kill anyone but himself, court heard.

“You have a sick man who was wanting to die, and he chose an awful route,” defence lawyer Michael Nolin told Justice Gary Meschishnick.

Levandoski is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday after pleading guilty to 10 charges, most of them gun-related, in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench.

Instead of pleading guilty to the most serious charges — attempted murder — he pleaded guilty to the lesser included offences of discharging a firearm with intent to endanger his sister Kim’s life, and to avoid being arrested by two officers.

He also pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon. Before the shooting began, Levandoski, who had been drinking, choked his sister and smashed a beer bottle over her head during an argument that started Aug. 22, 2014, court heard.

In response to Kim’s threats to call police, he grabbed his gun and fired shots inside the home. Kim and her two children got outside and hid behind a parked truck in front of the house until police arrived in an armoured rescue vehicle, prosecutor Gary Parker said.

For about an hour, Levandoski went from room to room, shooting through various windows