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Man who threatened students with pellet gun sentenced

The man charged with threatening youths at a Sechelt skate park with a pellet gun has been sentenced to more than 300 days in jail and will be banned for life from owning or possessing firearms. Tristan McDougall was charged after a Jan.
Sechelt Courthouse

The man charged with threatening youths at a Sechelt skate park with a pellet gun has been sentenced to more than 300 days in jail and will be banned for life from owning or possessing firearms.

Tristan McDougall was charged after a Jan. 15 incident at the skate park near Chatelech Secondary School in Sechelt.

Sunshine Coast RCMP said they were called around 12:30 that day with reports of a man pointing a firearm at a group of students. 

Police arrested McDougall, who was 18 at the time and was not a student at Chatelech, shortly afterwards at a home in Sechelt and confirmed the weapon was a pellet gun.

McDougall remained in custody throughout the court proceedings, which ended with him being found guilty Feb. 20 of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and using an imitation firearm while committing and indictable offence.

Crown attorney Trevor Cockfield said the charge of using an imitation firearm while committing a crime is considered very serious by the court and carries a mandatory minimum sentence of one year in jail.

McDougall’s sentence was reduced to 311 days to reflect the time he’d already been in custody. He was also handed a lifetime firearms prohibition and will serve two years probation on his release that includes the condition he not be on the Sunshine Coast. 

The incident prompted School District No. 46 to initiate what it described as “safety protocols” at Chatelech, but they did not go as far as a lockdown.