P.E.I. man pleads guilty to handgun crimes that triggered public emergency alert
Defence, Crown ask that Mitchell Lannigan spend 5 years in federal prison
A P.E.I. man who was on the run with a handgun for several days and eventually triggered a public emergency alert in Summerside has pleaded guilty to a number of charges in an unusually quick resolution in the Island's court system.
Wearing a tank top and appearing by video from the Provincial Correctional Centre, Mitchell Lannigan pleaded guilty to eight of the 20 charges against him on Friday morning.
Both the Crown and Lannigan's defence lawyer asked Judge Krista MacKay to send Lannigan to a federal prison for five years — a sentence both lawyers described as being fit for his crimes.
According to police reports read aloud in court, it all began when RCMP were called about an assault that took place on Harbour Road in the West Prince community of Miminegash on July 19.
It was the early hours of Saturday morning on the weekend of the Miminegash Days celebrations.
A fight broke out between Lannigan and another man. Lannigan punched him in the head, leaving the man barely conscious. The man later told police he knew Lannigan, but was unsure why he was getting punched.
The court then heard a second man stepped in and grabbed Lannigan by the throat, throwing him to the ground. Lannigan then walked off to his truck, returning with a nine-millimetre handgun, which he fired off at least once, but maybe up to three times.
Pointed gun at woman who 'accepted her fate'
The Crown said people at the scene were trying to help the injured man, including a woman who Lannigan pointed his gun at.
She later told police she thought Lannigan was going to shoot her, and that she "accepted her fate in that moment."
That's when Lannigan's girlfriend put herself between her boyfriend and the woman. Lannigan and his girlfriend then left together.
Meanwhile police arrived and found out what happened, then went to a home in Peterville — about 14 kilometres from the wharf in Miminegash — where Lannigan and his girlfriend were living.
The court heard police found the vehicle Lannigan was believed to be travelling in at the home, but didn't engage at that time due to a lack of resources.
Instead, police returned later that afternoon and shut down the road around the house so they could do a search.
Lannigan was not there, but police seized the vehicle as evidence.
On the run
A timeline of Lannigan's whereabouts in the days after the Miminegash incident was not detailed in court, but the Crown said he did make his way to Charlottetown at one point, where stayed with a cousin the West Royalty area.
He was gone by the time police got there, and wasn't seen again until the early hours of July 23 — the day police issued the emergency alert.
A man woke up in his home in Tyne Valley at around 4:30 a.m. to find Lannigan sitting on his couch holding a handgun.
The man said his own son had been in and out of the home during the night, which was not unusual, but this was the first time he saw Lannigan and immediately recognized him from photos circulated by the RCMP.
He told Lannigan he was calling the police, and left the living room "when he heard a loud bang."
The man came back to find that his pug, Buddy, who had been sleeping in his crate, had been shot and killed. Lannigan told the man his gun "just went off."
I just want to apologize to everybody I've impacted for everything I've done.— Mitchell Lannigan
The man chased Lannigan out of his house.
Lannigan and the man's son fled together in a beige Kia — which was later found near a residence on Murphy Street in Summerside, where witnesses told police they saw Lannigan running away.
An emergency alert was issued asking the city's residents to shelter in place. Shortly after, police got a call that a man who looked like Lannigan was boarding "a dingy" on the Glover Shore Road.
Police arrived at the scene and arrested Lannigan, but he told police he had given the gun to someone else. The handgun was quickly found in a bag outside of the residence on Murphy Street.
Lannigan wants to take accountability, lawyer says
Lannigan pleaded guilty to pointing the gun at the woman in Miminegash, killing Buddy the dog, four firearms-related charges and two other charges of violating conditions of his previous release and probation.
He has a previous criminal record, including for a break and enter.
The rest of the charges were stayed by the Crown.
"This set off a whole slew of public concern," Crown prosecutor Chad McQuaid told the court as he spoke about Lannigan's crimes on Friday.
McQuaid talked about the fight in Miminegash, and how even having a loaded firearm in a setting where a community event was taking place was an aggravating factor, as well as the worry that was circulating in the aftermath of the events.
"Having a firearm will not be condoned," he said, adding that removing Lannigan from society was necessary to show these acts aren't taken lightly.
Lannigan's lawyer Brian Pfefferle talked about how Lannigan wanted to take accountability for his actions, which was why he pleaded guilty so quickly.
Matters before the court in P.E.I. usually take months or years to resolve — with many accused not even making a first appearance in the timeframe in which Lannigan was arrested, charged and pleaded guilty.
Pfefferle also spoke about the "collateral consequence" Lannigan is experiencing now that videos of his arrest are circulating on social media sites like TikTok, where it has been viewed more than 400,000 times.
The source of the video is unknown, but it shows Lannigan being taken to shore in Summerside by two uniformed RCMP officers on kayaks.
Pfefferle also spoke about Lannigan killing Buddy the dog, and how difficult it is to place a value on the life of a pet, but characterized Lannigan shooting the pug as a "very brief, perhaps thoughtless" act as opposed to one of planned cruelty.
Judge to decide on sentence
Pfefferle said Lannigan has worked as an electrician, on a blueberry farm and has fished. He's the father of four children and believes this never would have happened if he had not been under the influence of substances like alcohol.
"I just want to apologize to everybody I've impacted for everything I've done," Lannigan seemed to tell the court as the video feed cut out.
Judge MacKay adjourned the case while she decides if she's going to accept the proposed five-year prison sentence. .
Judges in Canada typically have to accept a joint recommendation unless it's contrary to public interest.
The joint recommendation also includes paying $3,000 to the family of Buddy the pug, who was also a show dog.
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