Darren Hildebrand was sentenced Wednesday at Prince Albert Provincial Court. (File photo/paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Court proceedings

‘I trust you appreciate how frightening that would have been’: man sentenced following traffic stop shooting incident

Oct 28, 2021 | 10:34 AM

A man from the Canwood area has received a nine month conditional sentence, in connection to an incident a judge said could have ended much differently and easily resulted in a longer sentence.

Darren Hildebrand, 41, appeared in person on Wednesday afternoon at Prince Albert Provincial Court and entered guilty pleas to careless use of a firearm, as well as unsafe storage of a firearm.

The cases back to the night of Dec. 12, 2020. While RCMP were in the midst of a traffic stop south of Debden, the officer heard two gunshots discharged from a nearby property. Crown Prosecutor Cynthia Alexander explained the officer, not knowing what was happening and whether he was directly being targeted, sough cover behind his vehicle, and later expressed feelings of both surprise and fear.

“There wasn’t an intention to endanger the life of the officer but it is the Crown’s view there was at least an intention to scare him,” she said.

Hildebrand was located soon after, still holding the shotgun. A search of his home resulted in the subsequent seizure of four other guns.

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Defence lawyer Scott Spencer explained Hildebrand, a farmer and plumber by trade, had awoken from a drunken slumber in his shop, and hearing his dogs barking, grabbed his shotgun, then fired a couple shots into the night air.

“It’s a regular shotgun but it had a personal protection barrel, which basically renders it not as a particularly valuable weapon but it’s loud,” he said, reiterating there was no direct threat to the officer.

Judge T. Healey advised the facts of the case were very concerning, adding RCMP officers have a difficult job to do.

“I trust you appreciate how frightening that would have been,” he said. “This could have ended much, much differently.”

While Hildebrand’s sentence can be served at home, he must abide by a number of conditions including 20 hours community service, abstaining from alcohol and drugs, and must write a letter of apology to the RCMP officer. Healey said he hoped Hildebrand had learned from the experience, adding that had anyone been injured, he could very easily been facing jail time.

“This was hopefully a wake up call for you,” he said.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell