B.C. court reduces prison sentence for Vanderhoof RCMP shooter [Video]

A man who fired at least 19 gunshots at an RCMP detachment in northern British Columbia, narrowly missing officers inside, has won a reduced prison sentence from the province’s highest court, which ruled the sentencing judge failed to fully weigh the man’s mental illness at the time.

Paul Nicholas Russell was convicted last summer of firearms offences and fleeing from police, but was acquitted of attempted murder, in relation to the November 2021 shooting at the Vanderhoof police station.

He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with credit for time he had already served in custody since his arrest. But on Tuesday, the B.C. Court of Appeal cut that sentence down to five years.

The incident triggered a community-wide lockdown as rifle bullets tore through the detachment and struck several vehicles in the parking lot in what Mounties later described as “fluid mayhem.”

An emergency alert was sent to …