Teen arrested for high school threat sentenced to 4 months of conditional supervision, 18 months of probation

A Halifax teen who was accused of making threats against his high school has been sentenced to four months of deferred custody and 18 months of probation for weapons-related offences.

Judge Bronwyn Duffy delivered the sentence in Halifax youth court on Wednesday after the 16-year-old boy pleaded guilty to eight weapons-related charges earlier this year. 

A deferred custody and supervision order, which is similar to a conditional sentence for an adult, can be served in the community but comes with conditions such as a curfew. 

“I thought that the decision was entirely appropriate,” said Crown prosecutor Terry Nickerson, who initially called for six months of deferred custody in addition to the 1½ years of probation.

The boy was arrested at his home in the early hours of April 23 after he sent texts to a suicide hotline operator about being depressed, suicidal and obsessed with school shootings. 

At one point, the teen faced a total of 33 charges. Most of them were related to weapons offenses but the youth was also accused of making threats toward specific students and promoting hatred against racialized communities in online chat groups.

The teen, whose identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, ultimately pleaded guilty to six counts of unauthorized possession of a firearm, one count of careless storage of ammunition and one count of unauthorized possession of a weapon — brass knuckles. 

Duffy told the teen that he was being sentenced for the weapons-related offences but the overall circumstances surrounding his case influenced her decision.

During the sentencing hearing, the courtroom heard the teen told the hotline operator he was obsessed with school shootings.

The teen was particularly interested in the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Colorado and told the operator he related to the shooters.

He said he had become interested in neo-Nazi ideology and identified with the alt-right. 

The courtroom heard the teen had said during the exchange that he had planned to shoot up his school before taking his own life but had changed his mind within the past year. 

After nearly two hours, the operator called 911 and Halifax Regional Police dispatched a significant response to the teen’s home. 

In addition to weapons and ammunition, police found a suicide note, a list he'd compiled of people he wanted to kill, and racist materials targeting Black and Jewish people.