Justice officials give house-shooting teen a break

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This article was published 10/09/2013 (4728 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg teen who angrily lit up a Centennial neighbourhood home with gunfire after being asked to remove his shoes before being let inside has been given a major break by senior Manitoba justice officials.

A management committee of the Manitoba Prosecution Service (MPS) agreed to not pursue an adult sentence for the gun-toting first-time offender, 17, in favour of seeking the maximum youth term of two years behind bars followed by a year of supervision in the community, court heard Tuesday.

The youth and an adult co-accused were among a group of people who turned up at a party on Frances Street early on Feb. 24.

They left in an apparent huff after an argument erupted over being asked to take off their shoes, Crown attorney Susan Baragar said.

The youth and an adult co-accused returned a short time later armed with a sawed-off shotgun and a .22-calibre rifle and opened fire at the home from the outside, Judge Cynthia Devine heard.

The upstairs and main-floor living room windows were shot, a storm door was smashed and the rounds made “two large dents” in a steel entranceway door.

Five people were inside the home at the time the shots were fired, said Baragar.

With the help of a police dog, the two shooters were tracked to an Alexander Avenue home where two guns were recovered, police said.

If sentenced as an adult, the youth faced a mandatory minimum prison term of at least four years for reckless discharge of a firearm and unauthorized possession of a prohibited weapon.

MPS has a policy directing Crown attorneys to seek adult sentences for youth when firearms are dangerously discharged, Devine was told. Senior officials, however, carefully considered the case and agreed to take the possibility of stiffer punishment off the table due to the youth’s lack of a prior criminal record and the fact he has already spent six months in a youth jail, Baragar said.

The teen admitted to police what he did was reckless. “I could have killed somebody,” he told investigators.

At the time of the shooting, the youth was flirting with gang association. Upon admission to jail, he was seen as being “attracted to those more powerful than himself” and involved in bullying younger inmates, court heard.

Since then, he has been divorcing himself from those ways, said Baragar and defence lawyer Gerri Wiebe.

His parents are each involved in forms of youth-related outreach. His father appeared in court to thank all sides for taking a collaborative approach to his punishment.

“I believe very strongly that he can turn this around,” the father said.

Devine urged the youth to focus on his future and not get lured in to gang life.

“The powerful people are the ones who make the right decision, not the followers, not the gang guys,” she told him. “Those are weak guys.”

The jail portion of his youth sentence will allow him temporary absences if his in-custody behaviour warrants it.

Co-accused Kyle Fawcett, 19, remains before the courts and is due to appear Oct. 29.

james.turner@freepress.mb.ca