Man who fired warning shots sued

EDMONTON • Edouard Maurice, the Alberta father who was hauled before a judge for firing warning shots at bandits on his property, is now being sued by the man who, that night on his land outside of Okotoks, was hit by a ricocheting bullet and hospitalized.

In court documents filed in Calgary on Sept. 6, Ryan Watson says injuries sustained to his right forearm in February 2018 caused “severe damages and disability” and is suing for $100,000.

Watson was one of two people who had “entered (Maurice’s) farmland,” as the lawsuit put it.

“As ... Watson was fleeing, without warning, ( Maurice) attempted to scare ( Watson) by shooting a 22-calibre rifle in his direction, but negligently hit the plaintiff in the right forearm,” the statement of claim says.

The civil suit was served to Edouard Maurice earlier this month. Edouard, reached Monday morning, said he was “shocked” when he got it.

“It’s going to be hard to go into another court case,” said his wife, Jessica. “Now it’s like being victimized a third time.”

The Maurice case caused outrage across Alberta.

That night, Maurice, who was at home alone with his daughter, was alerted by his barking dogs to people on his property. He told the Post in an exclusive interview last year that he saw people rifling through his vehicles and retrieved his gun — court documents identified it as a .22- calibre rifle. Edouard Maurice told the Post he opened his door, shouted for the two people to leave, then fired two warning shots to scare them off.

Edouard Maurice then called police; he says they arrived some hours later ( a timeline the RCMP has refused to comment on) with their guns drawn, saying there were reports that someone had sustained a gunshot wound. Edouard Maurice was arrested and charged with careless use of a firearm, pointing a firearm and aggravated assault.

That a man defending his home and child against robbers would be the one police led away in cuffs rubbed already raw nerves in rural Alberta, where people are on edge over what has felt like out- of- control crime. Doug Schweitzer, the United Conservative minister of justice, is on a tour of the province getting feedback from Albertans on rural crime.

In the statement of claim, Watson, who faced several charges related to that night, says he required surgery to put a metal plate in his arm and that he now suffers post- traumatic stress disorder and other emotional and physical discomfort. Watson was sentenced to 45 days in jail in February 2019, but walked free from the courthouse because of time served.

None of these claims have been tested in court. Edouard Maurice has not yet filed contesting court documents.