|
Shooter given minimum time
by Ian Elliot
INUVIK (Feb 06/98) - A man who fired a shotgun into the ceiling of an Inuit Road house on New Year's Day, narrowly missing someone sleeping on a mattress in an upstairs bedroom, has been sent to jail for a year.
That is the mandatory minimum set by Parliament for any crime involving a firearm. Territorial court Judge Brian Bruser indicated that he would have imposed a shorter term if he had been able to at the sentencing last week.
Shane Goeson, 23, will also face a 10-year ban on owning firearms when he is released from jail but will not be put on probation. Bruser ruled that the thick sheaf of letters of support Goeson got indicated he had a strong enough support network in the community.
Court heard that on New Year's Day after a verbal disagreement with another man, Goeson left a house party and returned with a 12-gauge shotgun. Two people tried to wrench the gun away from him and it went off into the ceiling during the struggle, with the pellets blowing through a mattress on the floor of a bedroom upstairs and into the bedroom ceiling.
"He came within inches of killing someone," said prosecutor Rob Kilpatrick, who noted the pellets missed a sleeping partygoer by 12 centimetres. "It was good luck, remarkable good luck."
Goeson, who court heard had lost his job as a special-needs teacher, said his actions were out of character and apologized.
"I would like to apologize to the community and the people I've hurt," he told court in a soft voice, his voice breaking.
"I don't think this will ever happen again. I'm sorry." |