A man involved in a five-hour standoff with the RCMP emergency response team (ERT) pleaded guilty to two charges and received a conditional discharge in Red Deer court Wednesday.
Timothy McKay, 49, of Red Deer, was placed on probation for 18 months after pleading guilty to assault and careless storage of a firearm.
A former hunter, McKay was also ordered to forfeit several guns and ammunition to the Crown and is prohibited from owning or possessing firearms and ammunition for three years.
Provincial court Judge John Holmes heard that on Feb. 12 about 6:30 p.m. McKay was drinking with a 39-year-old woman in a residence on Hammond Crescent in Highland Green when he assaulted her.
Prosecutor Murray McPherson said McKay pushed the woman and grabbed her.
She fled the house and told police she thought she heard the clicking of a shotgun being loaded.
Police responded with the ERT squad and a dog team, then sealed off the area.
Following negotiations, McKay left the house around midnight and was arrested and charged.
A search of the residence located nine firearms and ammunition.
The 12-guage shotgun wasn’t loaded and was found unsecured under a bed.
The other firearms were located in a properly sealed container in the basement, defence lawyer Chad Evans told court.
Evans told court his client had no record and was a former hunter who became interested in gun collecting.
McKay was ordered by Holmes to continue his alcohol counselling and if he abides by conditions of the probation he won’t have a criminal record after 18 months.
jwilson@www.reddeeradvocate.com