THUNDER BAY - A man who was seen firing off a 12-gauge shotgun in public last year was sentenced to one year behind bars on Wednesday.
Solomon Yellowhead appeared in a Thunder Bay courtroom to enter guilty pleas to one count of careless use of a firearm and one count possessing a firearm for a dangerous purpose.
Crown and defence counsel submitted a joint submission for Yellowhead which included a one-year sentence, followed by a two-year probation period. He was also handed a lifetime weapons prohibition.
The sentence submission was endorsed by Justice Jeanine LeRoy.
Court heard police responded to an incident in October 2019 on the First Nations community of Fort Hope. Numerous complaints were called in to police regarding witnesses seeing an individual discharging a gun in the distance.
Police received information that Yellowhead had recently returned to the community after serving a jail sentence.
When police attended Yellowhead’s residence, he was arrested and told police he had thrown the gun into the bush.
“The shots were fired into the bush, he was not shooting at anybody…he had no intention to hurt anyone,” Yellowhead’s lawyer, Kate Brindley said.
According to Brindley, Yellowhead was in a mental health crisis during the incident. When he was released from jail he was supposed to have asked for a new prescription for his mental health medication but failed to do so. He had been off his medication for a number of days when the incident took place.
It’s unclear what Yellowhead’s diagnosis is, but according to Brindley, he takes different prescriptions for anxiety and ADHD.
“Basically he was desperate…it was a cry for help, he was hoping the police would come get him,” she said.
Brindley stated her client has learned from this incident and understands there are better ways to address his concerns in the future.
LeRoy accepted the submission stating Yellowhead showed remorse for his actions despite having a lengthy criminal record involving firearm convictions.
Yellowhead has been in custody for 157 days and was accredited to 236 days. He only has 129 days left further of his sentence to serve.
A portion of Yellowhead’s will require him to attend assessment treatment for counselling if he is directed to do so by probation.
