Teen gets probation for threatening to shoot up school

CORNER BROOK — A west coast boy convicted of threatening to shoot up a school with an AK-47 has been placed on probation for 12 months.

The sentence was handed down by Judge Wayne Gorman in provincial court in Corner Brook Oct. 18.

The teenage boy, whose identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was convicted of uttering threats and extortion in September.

The school in question was not identified in Gorman’s written decision on the sentencing, nor in his previous decision on the boy’s conviction.

The timing of the incident corresponds with one reported on by The Western Star in February, which involved two boys being charged.

The boy made the threats while at Marble Mountain after he and a friend, who was also charged with uttering threats, approached a number of teens sitting at a table in the ski lodge.

The boy used the phone of one of the teens to call another teen. He claimed the teen owed him money because he had damaged a vape belonging to the boy.

During the call, he threatened to beat up the teen and bring an AK-47 to the school to shoot up the school.

The author of a pre-sentence report completed for the court said the boy has expressed remorse over his actions, but needs supervision and guidance both from the adults he is residing with and through a court order mandating it.

The boy has a youth court record and was also placed on probation for 12 months in May of this year.

He acknowledged he has made poor choices in the past year and that he did not think about the consequences of his behaviour at the time.

His goal now is to not get into any more trouble with the law and to do well in school, he said.

The report indicated the boy also recognizes the importance of following the conditions of his probation order and has been successful with doing so.

Because of the boy’s age and the steps he has taken since the commission of the offences to improve his behaviour, Gorman concluded a period of probation for 12 months was the appropriate sentence.

The Crown has since withdrawn the charge against the second youth.

Adam Sparkes, the senior Crown attorney for the western region, said in an email that the charge was withdrawn after considering and assessing the evidence in the convicted boy’s matter.