Teen sentenced after reserve shooting
Youth accidentally fired rifle while pointing it at man during altercation on Hay River Reserve
Daniel Campbell
Northern News Services
Published Monday, October 21, 2013
K'ATLODEECHE/HAY RIVER RESERVE
A young man who pointed a rifle at a man during an altercation and accidentally fired it has been sentenced to five months in jail.
The man was not injured as the shot missed him.
Wade Fabian, who turned 18 in July, was sentenced as an adult.
The facts as they were read to the court state that on Oct. 12, Fabian, who had been drinking in a Hay River Reserve residence, pointed a Remington 700 rifle at another man. A woman grabbed the gun and Fabian accidentally fired it. RCMP arrested Fabian shortly afterwards.
Territorial court chief judge Robert Gorin credited the young man for his early guilty plea, which sped up the court process considerably.
When asked if he wanted to speak before his sentencing, Fabian stood and apologized to the police and the courts for wasting their time.
"You're not wasting my time, this is my job," replied Gorin. "You're really wasting your own time."
Gorin added although this was Fabian's first adult conviction, he'd have to impose incarceration as a deterrence.
Fabian was sentenced to four months in jail for the firearms offence, and one month consecutively for an unrelated weapons offence from Oct. 5 - Fabian had a prohibited weapon, brass knuckles, in his possession.
Fabian will be on probation for one year after his jail term. He's also prohibited from owning a firearm for five years.
