Terrence Daigneault will spend eight years in jail for shooting at two RCMP officers in La Ronge in 2022. (submitted photo/RCMP)

By Susan McNeil

Daigneault sentencing

La Ronge man who shot at police to spend next eight years in jail

Jun 17, 2024 | 5:00 PM

When Terrence Daigneault opened fire on two RCMP officers in La Ronge in 2022, the video from the police cruiser shows him with a gun in one hand and a bottle of liquor in the other.

At Daigneault’s sentencing in Prince Albert at the end of May, Court of King’s Bench heard he first started drinking at age nine and by the time he shot at the officers, he consumed up to three 26-ounce bottles of vodka every day.

Judge J. Stahl gave Daigneault an 11-year prison sentence but also credited him for three years in pre-conviction time served.

The Crown prosecutor asked for a global sentence of 13 years in jail for Daigneault’s guilty plea charges of using a restricted 9 mm handgun to shoot at the officers, to possessing the gun, having a gun while banned and not complying with the conditions of a release order.

Daigneault’s lawyer instead suggested a sentence between seven and nine years of prison time was more appropriate.

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Court documents show Daigneault, age 31, grew up in Îl-à-la-Crosse and spent a lot of time in Buffalo Narrows. He has childhood memories of his parents drinking and smoking marijuana with their house becoming loud and too crowded but also learning to pick berries and other positive memories. At 14, Daigneault drank regularly and sold drugs.

A relationship which resulted in him fathering two children led to his partner giving him an ultimatum to choose her or his gang lifestyle in 2020. He chose the gang.

The La Ronge shooting did not result in any injuries as just the police vehicle was hit. The incident is not connected to gang activity.

Daigneault’s criminal record is lengthy and includes 40 convictions between 2013 and 2022. Of those 10 were for not complying with conditions, 12 involved violence, four were for resisting arrest or assaulting police officers, two were for drug possession along with other more minor offences.

The sentencing judge pointed out the shooting was unprovoked: the officers were pulling over the vehicle Daigneault was a passenger in for speeding. It had just come to a stop next to a home near the La Ronge School (which was in session) when he got out and started shooting.

Daigneault also fled the scene and remained at large until Saskatoon Police arrested him three days later – following a standoff.

After weighing mitigating and aggravating factors, Daigneault was sentenced to 11 years for all offences, less the three-year credit for time in remand.

He will remain in jail for the next eight years, must give DNA to the national database and has a lifetime weapons ban.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com