Judge agrees accused did not intend to kill officer in standoff
A shot fired at a police officer during a daytime shootout in downtown Saskatoon was a reckless attempt at preventing an arrest, but wasn’t meant to kill the officer, a Queen’s Bench judge has concluded.
However, Mike Andrew Arcand’s testimony that he accidentally fired the homemade zip gun was neither credible nor reliable, Justice Jeff Kalmakoff said on Thursday, reading his decision following Arcand’s trial last week.
He said Arcand had many opportunities to drop his weapon and walk away, made sure the gun was loaded and attempted to fire it twice. It didn’t work the first time, but the second time it did — barely missing Sgt. Grant Linklater and prompting what Kalmakoff called “a brief, but very tense standoff” that ended with Arcand being shot.
“It was extremely fortunate that nobody, including Mr. Arcand, was killed,” he said.
Kalmakoff found Arcand, 35, not guilty of attempted murder, but guilty of the lesser included offence of assault with a weapon in connection with the Sept. 27, 2017, incident that began on Fourth Avenue South around 3 p.m.
He also convicted Arcand of shooting at a person with the intent to injure them, to endanger their life or to prevent an arrest, intentionally firing a shot while being reckless as to the life or safety of others, carrying a weapon for a dangerous purpose and using a firearm while committing an indictable offence.
Firing a gun with intent is the most serious charge, carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of four years. Kalmakoff noted that Arcand will only be sentenced on that charge and two others to account for the Kienapple principle, which prevents someone from being convicted of multiple, similar offences arising from the same facts.
Sentencing was adjourned to April 24 to allow for the preparation of a pre-sentence report.
Court heard police were called to a parking lot near the SIIT campus, where people reported a man breaking into a car. Arcand testified it was his car, and that he had locked himself out while waiting for his girlfriend to finish class.
He broke his window and grabbed drugs, the zip gun and 12-gauge shotgun shells before police arrived, ingesting methamphetamine right before the shooting. According to Kalmakoff’s determination of the facts, Arcand didn’t respond when police asked him questions, instead pacing and holding the zip gun — comprised of two pipes — at approximately waist height.
The Crown argued Arcand made a “pumping motion” before officers fired two rounds from a beanbag gun and used a Taser twice. Still, Arcand didn’t drop the weapon.
Instead, he fired a shotgun shell in Linklater’s direction. The pellets hit a fence behind the officer.
Arcand then ran down Fourth Avenue toward 20th Street, re-loading his weapon and attempting a second, unsuccessful shot. Police fired at Arcand and were eventually able to arrest him.
During closing arguments, defence lawyer Brent Little argued the shot was accidental, pointing to an expert who couldn’t say how much pressure it would take to discharge the weapon, but that it could go off in certain positions.
Crown prosecutor Todd Wellsch argued Arcand pointed the homemade gun at Linklater and purposefully fired it with the intent to either kill or wound him.
However, Kalmakoff determined the Crown did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Arcand meant to kill Linklater when he fired the gun. He noted the Crown’s intent argument was based on circumstantial, rather than direct, evidence.
According to an expert witness, the zip gun was not capable of firing when Arcand pumped it a second time, Little said. He argued that although Arcand admitted making the weapon, had fired it at least once before and had it in his vehicle that day, he did not go downtown intending to use it.