Witnesses testify they heard gunshots

Attempted murder trial begins

Tyra Orr never actually saw a gun, but there was no mistaking the rapid-fire sound of shots being fired moments before she fled in a panic from a westside home last year. Orr, as well as her boyfriend Braden Allred and his mother Erica Grintals, ran from the home where Robert Sheppard had allegedly just fired several shots from a rifle after he and Grintals argued in the backyard.

Orr testified Thursday in Sheppard’s attempted murder trial that the three of them frantically ran down the street knocking on doors, hoping someone would let them in. They finally hid in a backyard about five houses away and waited for police to arrive.

The night began quietly enough. It was about 8:45 p.m. April 18 of last year, and Orr was in the basement of Grintals’ home with Allred and their friend Dylan Earl-Nager, while Grintals was in the backyard sitting by the fire pit. Grintals had previously told the others that if Sheppard came by, they were to tell him she wasn’t home.

No one answered the door when Sheppard came knocking, but he walked around the side of the house and entered the backyard where he and Grintals talked for several minutes before Sheppard left. Grintals went into the house through the basement patio doors and told her son and his friends to lock all the doors, turn off the music and the lights, and be ready to call 911.

Grintals returned to the backyard to talk to Sheppard, who had also returned, and Orr watched through the patio door windows as they argued. Then Sheppard grabbed Grintals and pushed her hard into the door.

Orr said when she turned to call her boyfriend, she heard four gunshots — three in rapid succession, followed by a pause and a fourth shot — as Grintals ran into the house and yelled for everyone to run upstairs. Orr dialled 911 as they fled down the street and hid in a yard.

Orr testified under cross examination that she never saw Sheppard fire a gun, and never even saw a gun. But she assumed he was shooting at Grintals.

Earl-Nager never saw a gun, either, but he did see Sheppard carrying a long duffel bag after the accused returned to the yard the second time. He also saw Sheppard grab and push Grintals into the door, causing her to fall to the ground, and heard three to five shots as Grintals ran into the house. The bullets, he said, smashed through the glass doors, but he never actually saw Sheppard fire the shots.

While the others fled upstairs, Earl-Nager dropped to the floor and crawled behind a coffee table. He watched for several minutes while Sheppard paced back and forth outside the patio doors, not daring to leave until he was sure it was safe.

“I was...waiting to see if he would come in the home,” Earl-Nager told court.

Finally he saw Sheppard leave, and after waiting several more minutes, Earl-Nager ran out of the house. By then police had arrived and were running toward him, but there was no sign of the accused.

Sheppard is charged with one count of attempted murder, four counts of assault with a weapon, and single counts of discharging a firearm, careless use/storage of a firearm, pointing a firearm, possession of a weapon dangerous to the public, unauthorized possession of a firearm, unauthorized possession of a firearm/weapon in a vehicle, and carrying a concealed weapon.

Crown prosecutor Clayton Giles told court during his opening remarks, that evidence will show Sheppard fired a rifle at Grintals four times in an attempt to kill her.

“But for missing the target, he would have done so,” Giles told Judge Gregory Maxwell.

Police reported shortly after the incident that a suspect fled before the tactical team entered the house, but RCMP officers found him early the next morning and he was arrested near Granum following a police chase.

The trial is expected to continue today, before it is adjourned to resume for two more days June 10 and 11.