Amanda Vaughan
Northern News Services
Published Friday, September 28, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - It all went wrong for Christopher Harris when he and his friend were playing with a loaded 9mm pistol in his kitchen last summer.

The gun went off in Harris' hand and the bullet went through his friend's upper thigh, lodging in the kitchen wall.

In a panic, Harris drove his friend to the hospital. He quickly returned to his home, asking a female friend who had been in the apartment during the shooting to dispose of the gun and hide his stash of cocaine.

Then he tried to cover up the bullet hole in the kitchen wall, digging out the shell and throwing it off the deck.

When he called the hospital to find out the status of his friend, he realized the police were at the hospital.

In an attempt to do more damage control, he called police and told them a story about hearing a noise from another room and going to find his friend injured. However, the story did not hold up for long and he soon told police what really happened.

Appearing in court Sept. 21 before Justice John Vertes, Harris was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail for possession of 513 grams of cocaine and accidentally shooting his friend.

The Supreme Court sentence was a joint submission between the Crown and defence, and the result of "lengthy negotiations," according to Harris' lawyer, Jamel Chadi. Crown attorney, Maureen McGuire and Chadi agreed that Harris's crime required prison, however both lawyers also acknowledged the accidental nature of the incident.

Chadi described his client's "genuine remorse" for the June 4 shooting, and indicated that the 24-year-old Harris had since made attempts get his life back on track.

In her explanation of the Crown's position, McGuire mentioned Harris's admission of the crime.

"Though he experienced a moment of panic, afterwards he was co-operative with the police in giving a statement, assisted police locating the shell and explained to them what happened in the apartment that day," McGuire said.

She also mentioned that within a few hours, police were also able to locate the gun in Frame Lake, and the cocaine hidden under a trailer on Williams Avenue.

Chadi said that Harris had moved back to Fort McMurray, Alta. to be near his parents, whom he had informed of the incident after being arrested. He has been working solidly since then, Chadi said.

Vertes gave Harris 2.5 years in prison for possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking, one consecutive year for the possession of a prohibited weapon, and one concurrent year for a charge of careless use of a firearm.

Near the end of the sentencing, Harris was seen weeping after his father had left the courtroom in tears. After the hearing, the father, who did not wish to be named, left a warning for others in his son's situation.

"These kids get enticed into gangs, with women and clothing and money, and this is what happens," he said.