Teen gets three years for attempted murder

REGINA A 16-year-old boy avoided the possibility of an adult sentence, having acknowledged shooting an 18-year-old man earlier this year.

The teen appeared at Regina Youth Court this week, where he pleaded guilty to attempted murder and a range of property and breach offences.

Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, attempted murder carries a maximum sentence of three years — the penalty jointly recommended by Crown and defence counsel and accepted by the judge.

Because he was sentenced as a youth, the teen cannot be identified under the act.

Crown prosecutor Chris White told the court the complainant and a female friend were walking in the area of 8th Avenue and Robinson Street early on the morning of April 23 when they were circled by a silver SUV.

The female companion later told police a male person got out of the SUV and shot her friend. She identified the shooter as the 16-yearold, a boy she used to go out with.

Court heard while the 18-yearold complainant was shot in the chest area, the bullet did not enter his body but rather grazed across his chest and under his left arm.

Neither the complainant nor his friend were initially convinced he had been shot, only realizing fully what had happened once they got back to his house. His mother then drove him to hospital.

Later that morning, the female individual’s parents saw a grey SUV out front and heard three bangs on their daughter’s bedroom window, with the last breaking the glass.

No projectile was found at that point but, less than two hours later, the grey SUV was back. This time, the parents saw the 16-year-old pointing a gun at the house, causing them to duck for cover.

Police were able to recover the SUV — found to be stolen — and arrest the 16-year-old later that day. White said the youth took off running and tossed a backpack over a fence before his arrest.

A search of the youth and the backpack turned up a key fob to the stolen SUV, a sawed-off .22-calibre rifle with a defaced serial number, a magazine for the rifle with ammunition, a quantity of pre-packaged marijuana and items typically used in the drug trade.

While the motivation for the offences wasn’t clear, the complainant’s female friend told police she had previously broken up with the 16-year-old.

She said her ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend had sent her threatening texts, warning she would beat her up or even shoot her.

Given the sentence was jointly proposed, defence lawyer Tyne Hagey provided few details about her client. But she said he was dealing with substance-abuse issues at the time of the offence and realized he needs to finish high school and work toward getting some technical training so he can support himself in the future.

Everyone is very fortunate that (the complainant) wasn’t hurt ... You could have found yourself being locked up for a very long time.

“Everyone is very fortunate that (the complainant) wasn’t hurt ...” Judge Anna Crugnale-reid told the youth in accepting the proposed sentence.

“You could have found yourself being locked up for a very long time.”

While she said she wasn’t clear on what was behind the shooting, the judge added there is no good motivation for this offence.