A man who opened fire on two RCMP officers last year near the ambulance station in Trail has been sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to four of seven charges.
Crown and defence proposed the joint recommendation today in Rossland Provincial Court.
Francis Paradis, 29, appeared by video link from prison for his sentencing hearing, conducted mostly in French. He wore orange prison garb and sat with his hands folded through most of the proceedings.
Police said they were called to the hospital shortly before midnight on Oct. 25 to a report of a man from Quebec “behaving erratically” and trying to enter the ambulance station at Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital.
Officers found the man, who had no previous history with them, standing just outside the station. As they tried to calm him down, he fired a handgun four or five times at the two officers and three nearby paramedics. No one was physically injured.
Paradis faced seven charges, but in recognition of his guilty plea, Crown prosecutor Jean-Benoit Deschamps stayed three counts, including the most serious ones.
The joint submission, which Judge Grant Sheard accepted, called for six years in prison for each of two counts of using a restricted or prohibited firearm; two years for possession of a firearm contrary to an order, and five years for having a restricted firearm, all to be served concurrently.
Charges of attempted murder, possession of a firearm without a license or registration, and assaulting a peace officer with a weapon were dropped.
Paradis will receive time and a half credit for 185 days served so far, meaning 272 days will be docked from his sentence, leaving him with about another five years and three months to serve. He has requested to be transferred to a federal prison in Drummondville, Que.
Court was told that after his release, he expects to stay in his home province, where his parents, girlfriend, and brother live and to work for his brother’s construction company. He previously operated a limo company.
Paradis will also be prohibited from having restricted firearms for life, has to forfeit the gun and ammo used in the Trail incident, and provide a DNA sample.
The two police officers both provided victim impact statements, one of which was read aloud in French.
Court heard Paradis was previously convicted in Quebec of manslaughter. But defence lawyer Jordan Watt said Paradis’ early guilty plea is a significant mitigating factor. Watt said Paradis no longer has substance use issues, but does have mental health challenges including ADHD and anxiety.
While Watt indicated Paradis did not want to provide a statement in court, when asked by the judge if he had anything to say, he delivered a lengthy statement in English, at times weeping.
“What I did I should never have done,” he said. “I regret that, but regret doesn’t erase it. I traumatized persons along the way … I am sorry, but that doesn’t change what happened.”
Paradis said he had bad experiences with police in Quebec, where he witnessed a friend being shot.
He said he was at the Trail hospital after being in a car accident in the Boundary that left him trapped down a cliff. He suffered broken ribs and went three days without his medication. After leaving the hospital, he began approaching people seeking a ride to the airport.
“I felt scared and alone and wanted to go home,” he said.
Paradis said his anxiety was heightened when an officer pulled out a taser. He said he now realizes the officer was just trying to calm him down, “but I didn’t want anyone to approach me.”
“I’m sorry for what I did. I’ll do my time. I’ll accept it.”
Sgt. Mike Wicentowich, the Trail detachment commander, was in the courtroom during sentencing and says he’s glad the matter has been resolve, as a trial would have been difficult on the entire detachment, especially the two members involved.
“It was nice to hear the judge talk about denunciation against violence against police, as well as how important it is in these sentencing hearings that the sentence reflects deterrence from committing acts of violence against police,” he said. “I believe in this case, that’s been done.”
Wicentowich said it’s important to realize that police officers do a very stressful job with a lot of traumatic events, but are still people.
“I think this deeply affected both officers, but they are doing all the appropriate things and managing it well and we’re very proud of them,” he added.
Following the incident, both officers stayed at work on modified duties, but one is now off work for unrelated reasons, Wicentowich said.
