Nolan Schmidt will serve 5 years and 9 months behind bars...
On Thursday, Justice John Walker handed down the sentence in B.C. Supreme Court, noting that gun violence has become a troubling norm in the rural northeast B.C. community.
Nolan Schmidt, 25, was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the death of 57-year-old Joel Freeman.
Freeman died instantly on Jan. 19, 2025, just after 11 p.m. in Dawson Creek, B.C., when Schmidt shot him with a shotgun at a property near 102 Avenue.
Walker highlighted that violent offences, especially those involving firearms, harm the wider community by instilling fear that similar harm could befall others or their loved ones.
He agreed with Crown prosecutors that Dawson Creek has been troubled by unsolved murders and missing persons cases.
As outlined in an agreed statement of facts, Freeman was sitting on a couch at a 102 Avenue property when Schmidt entered, aimed a shotgun at Freeman and another person.
Schmidt claimed Freeman lunged at him and insisted he never intended to kill, acting out of fear rather than anger or hate.
During the sentencing hearing, Schmidt expressed deep remorse, saying he couldn’t sleep and felt like a monster. Walker dismissed the claim of an accidental killing, noting Schmidt fled to a nearby pub, describing the incident as “near murder” due to the concealed folding shotgun used.
Schmidt later went to a downtown hotel, where he shot and injured a second victim before being arrested by RCMP early on Jan. 20, 2025. Schmidt had earlier pleaded guilty to manslaughter, a charge reduced from second-degree murder.
Schmidt received 33 months’ credit for time spent in pre-trial custody, cutting his original eight-and-a-half-year prison sentence. He will also serve a concurrent five-year term for aggravated assault.
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