Teen apologizes for role in Niagara Falls shooting incident

Woman chased in car, shot at with air rifle

Although she escaped physical injury after a group of masked teens chased her in a car and shot at her, she fears the emotional scars will never heal.

“Why was I chosen, what did I do to deserve this?” the woman wrote in a victim impact statement read into court during the sentencing hearing of one of the youths involved in the harrowing incident. “I was a strong, confident, fun-loving, happy-go-lucky person. Now, I’m a negative, paranoid, judgmental, scared, overbearing person.

“I have become a person my family and friends don’t recognize.”

The woman was driving in the area of Garner Road and Lundy’s Lane in Niagara Falls just before 8 p.m. on Nov. 21, 2017 when a car started following her. One of the occupants fired what appeared to be a gun at her.

Terrified, she drove on and was chased by the mystery car.

Witnesses contacted police and the suspect vehicle was found in a parking lot. An Airsoft rifle was seized, which Niagara Regional Police said bore a “strong resemblance to a real assault rifle.” A quantity of prescription pills was also seized.

Three teens were arrested, two 16-year-olds who cannot be identified under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, and 18-year-old Zachary Harris.

Harris, now 19, appeared in an Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines on Thursday for sentencing on a charge of discharging an airgun with the intent to cause bodily harm.

Harris drove the car that night, court was told. He did not fire the rifle.

Defence lawyer Dave Protomanni blamed his client’s actions on an addiction to Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug he said is becoming a popular drug among young people.

“I am genuinely sorry for what I’ve done,” Harris told Judge Peter Wilkie. “I never planned on being an addict. Those drugs turned me into something I’m not.”

The judge imposed a 90-day sentence, to be served on weekends. Court was told the victim no longer drives the vehicle that was involved in the shooting and no longer takes her grandchildren on outings.

“I feel I would be putting them in danger,” she wrote.

Despite the incident, she said she forgives the young men who terrorized her that night.

“I would like to see them grow into good, respectable men.”