THUNDER BAY – A man who discharged a firearm at a stranger in downtown Port Arthur has been sentenced to five years in custody.
Denne Beardy, 27, of Sandy Lake First Nation, appeared in a Thunder Bay courtroom on Friday where he pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm at a person with intent to wound, maim, or disfigure, possession of a concealed weapon, possession of a prohibited firearm, and failing to comply with a release order.
According to the agreed statement of facts, the Thunder Bay Police Service received reports of two or three gunshots in the Pearl Street and Cumberland Street area just before 2 a.m. on Oct. 30, 2022.
Officers responding to the area encountered two people who said a man pulled a gun on them and fired two or three shots.
Video surveillance footage from the area showed Beardy arguing with a woman. The woman left the area and went to a patio on Pearl Street where the man and woman were sitting.
Beardy arrived and accused the man of trying to sleep with the woman and pulled a gun on him. The man did not believe it to be real until Beardy discharged the firearm in his direction.
The man and woman, who did not know Beardy or the woman he was with, fled and hid in a nearby parking lot until police arrived.
A search of the area by police uncovered a spent shell casing. The next day, a resident in the Wilson Street area contacted police about a handgun found on their property.
The ammunition in the handgun, which included a live round in the chamber and one in the magazine, matched the shell casing found in the Pearl Street area.
The shooting was captured on video and a flash can be seen from the muzzle of the handgun.
Beardy was identified as the man in the video and arrested by the Thunder Bay Police Service on Nov. 5, 2022 and initially charged with attempted murder.
A joint submission on sentence was presented to the court, calling for a global sentence of five years in custody.
According to Beardy’s defence counsel, he was heavily intoxicated at the time and has no independent memory of the incident.
But it was acknowledged that Beardy expressed remorse for his actions and understands the seriousness of the offence and the gravity of what could have happened.
The Crown echoed the seriousness of Beardy’s actions and that he could have been facing a murder charge had the situation gone differently.
The judge agreed to the joint submission of five years in custody, noting the court has a duty to send a message to the community that this kind of reckless behaviour in the community will not be tolerated.
Beardy was credited with 565 real days of pre-sentence custody, which was enhanced to 848 days. An additional 250 days of Duncan credit for conditions at the Thunder Bay District Jail was granted.
He was sentenced to two-years less a day going forward. Following his release from custody, Beardy will be subject to 18 months of probation. He is also required to submit a DNA sample and is subject to a 10-year weapons prohibition.
All other charges were marked withdrawn.
