A man charged following a Sunday morning shooting three years ago outside the Haney Public House has been sentenced to seven years in jail after pleading guilty to three charges.
William Cody McKenna, 28, pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated assault, unlawful discharge of a restricted firearm and possessing a loaded firearm without a licence, earlier this year and was sentenced in June in New Westminster Supreme Court.
McKenna received a seven-year sentence on the aggravated assault charge, and five years for unlawfully discharging a firearm and three years for possessing a loaded firearm without a licence. The sentences will be served concurrently.
Police who responded to the call said the scene was chaotic after two doormen were shot after tossing a patron out of the downtown Maple Ridge pub.
According to the reasons for sentencing, McKenna had been drinking in the bar and had become involved in a fight at about 1:30 a.m. and was subsequently removed from it.
McKenna then went round to the front of the pub and returned a half hour later as it was closing.
McKenna fired seven shots in the direction of the front door of the bar, where two doormen were standing along with about a dozen others. One of the men was hit in the leg twice, while the other was hit once. Two other people suffered shrapnel wounds and were treated at the scene.
The incident has had enduring effects on one of the doormen, who said in a victim impact statement that he has become a hermit, doesn’t like to go out and angers easily. He is also still in pain from the shooting, and can’t run or work out as before and may require surgery to remove shrapnel.
The other victim didn’t attend court because of “profound negative feelings,” Justice Ball said in his sentencing decision.
“It goes without saying, that these are very serious criminal offences. It was only through good fortune that no one was killed and more individuals were not injured on this occasion,” Ball said.
The justice pointed out that McKenna was under a firearms prohibition at the time of the shooting, while text messages on McKenna’s cellphone showed that he tried to escape by destroying his clothes.
However, the justice noted that McKenna has become a reliable employee by a former boss and that he has the support of this family and community and a job offer when he gets out of jail. He also had difficulty when he was teen and his parents separated.
The judge also noted the guilty pleas spared the victims from having to testify and showed an acceptance of responsibility. Charges of assault with a weapon, attempted murder, using a firearm and uttering threats were dropped.
McKenna’s also received a year’s concurrent sentence after pleading guilty to a charge of break and enter in connection with an October 2015 incident.
McKenna has already been in jail for a year, accounting for a year and a half of the sentence being served.