Gun toting Clark’s Harbour man gets two years

Justin Paul Atwood led RCMP officers and their tracking canine on a chase through the woods after he tried to gain entrance to a home in Clark’s Harbour while carrying a gun. Atwood had earlier threatened to kill the owner of the home during a conversation on the Internet.

Just after 9 a.m. Atwood was located in a tree and was arrested without incident. He was not in possession of a firearm at that time.

As a precautionary measure, the RCMP contacted the Clark’s Harbour Elementary School and a lock down was initiated.

The Grade Primary to Grade 3 students remained in their classes with all entry points to the school locked and an RCMP officer on site for approximately half an hour.

Atwood remained in custody until his sentencing on Dec. 17.

In passing sentence, provincial court Judge James Burrill condemned Atwood’s actions and asked him to imagine the fear he had caused in the community. Referring to the lock-down initiated by police on the school, Judge Burrill asked Atwood to imagine himself as a child and how he would have felt being told he had to come in off the playground because of a man with a gun in the area. He also asked Atwood to imagine the feelings he had created in the witnesses who had seen him walking on the street carrying a gun while in the state of mind he was in that morning.

Atwood, faced flushed and teary-eyed, looked at the courtroom floor while the judge spoke to him. When asked if he had anything to say before the judge passed sentence he replied, “No”.

Judge Burrill stated that the public ought not to live with the fear Atwood had caused that day and said strong sanctions were required to keep Atwood from doing such deeds again and to dissuade like-minded persons from similar acts.

As part of Atwood’s 12-month probation following his release he has been ordered to attend for assessment and counseling for mental health issues. No psychological assessment was performed pre-sentence.

Atwood has also been prohibited from possessing firearms for a period of ten years.