Jack J. Girroir, 37, will spend four months in house arrest and two years on probation, after pleading guilty to the negligent discharge of a firearm.
The incident took place on May 11, 2021, around 5:20 a.m. in the 1000-block of Sixth Avenue – near the Parkhouse apartments and the city’s new underground parkade. A witness heard a loud argument between a man and a woman, followed by a single gunshot, according to an RCMP statement issued that day.
RCMP officers arrived on the scene, and one spotted Girroir carrying a duffle bag and walking with a woman, the Crown prosecutor told the court on Friday. When the officer arrived, Girroir dropped the bag and ran for it.
Other officers arrived on the scene and Girroir was caught after a short foot chase. When police searched the duffle bag, they found a shotgun with live rounds in the magazine and a discharged cartridge still in the chamber.
No one else was in the area at the time of the gunshot, and police found no evidence of injuries or damage to property in the area, the prosecutor said. Girroir had a lifetime firearms prohibition and a lengthy criminal record including assault with a weapon, sexual assault, drug trafficking and theft, the Crown prosecutor told the court.
Girroir’s lawyer said while the criminal record was admitted but, prior to the gun incident in 2021, Girroir hadn’t committed a criminal offence since 2012. Girroir told the court he self-identifies as Indigenous and grew up in care.
Girroir’s lawyer said he found the duffle bag with the gun in it abandoned in the Hudson Bay Slough and, while testing it, it went of.
“According to Mr. Girroir, he found the gun and wanted to see if it worked and fired it in the air,” Judge Peter McDermick summarized in his ruling.
McDermick said that story “strains credulity,” but accepted the joint sentencing submission from the Crown and Girroir's lawyer.
EDITOR'S NOTE: A previous version of this story incorrectly spelled Girroir's last name.
