A Penticton teen has been sentenced to probation after pleading guilty for being in possession of a stolen firearm.
“Had you been an adult it would have been three years hard time in a federal penitentiary and the only difference is a matter of months,” said Judge James Threlfall.
The male teen, who cannot be named because of a publication ban, appeared at the Penticton courthouse on Monday and pled guilty to breaking and entering, possession of a weapon and possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm with ammunition. He received two years probation, including a year of intensive support and supervision.
Crown counsel Debra Drissell said a resident in the Quebec Street area heard gunshots outside their home on March 10. The resident called RCMP after they saw two males pressuring a female to shoot a handgun, yelling at her to “fire it” and to “hurry up.” After questioning a group of youths, RCMP found a .357 magnum Smith and Wesson revolver in a pocket inside a male teen’s jacket along with an empty liquor bottle. An empty gun case and loose ammunition was also recovered by RCMP on the teen’s kitchen table.
During questioning of the youths, RCMP were told the accused had taken the gun to school. The friends said the teen had showed the gun to them there and it had been stored in his school locker since he stole it. Police were told the teen broke into a garage to smoke some weed about three weeks earlier and that is where he stole the gun from.
The youths told RCMP the teen had been unusually angry recently and was extremely upset that his friend had been kicked out of school. They also said the teen had indicated his intentions was to “pop all the principals at the school.” Crown counsel said there were also allegations of a similar nature that were left on the telephone answering service at the school, although charges weren’t pursued. Defence counsel said the teen was not responsible for those comments.
One of the teen’s friends said they were also shown bullet holes at the Lions Park concession doors that the teen bragged about creating the night before by shooting into the heavy metal doors. The Crown said RCMP did inspect the doors and confirmed they were bullet holes. The friends also told RCMP they were afraid the teen would kill himself with the gun, and when they tried to take the revolver away, the teen said he would kill his friend if he did that.
The teen has a number of conditions on his probation including a curfew, not to be at the high school he had been attending, no contact with the principals and 30 hours of community service work. The judge said if he does well with the intensive supervision portion of his probation he could come back to appeal some of the conditions.
Judge Threlfall said although he read some positive remarks in the teen’s pre-sentence report, he noted there are also “extremely troubling” comments.
“The reports indicate he is extremely manipulative and a compulsive liar. These reports are of concern,” said Threlfall.