A man accused of firing a shotgun into the face of a convenience store clerk during a robbery was ordered by a judge on Wednesday to undergo psychiatric testing.
Jeffrey Lyle Geary, 30, is charged with attempted murder; using a prohibited weapon to commit robbery; possession of a prohibited weapon; possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose, possession of a loaded prohibited weapon, and possession of a stolen prohibited weapon.
Police said a suspect armed with a sawed-off shotgun walked into the West Park Fas Gas shortly after 11 p.m. on Sept. 11 and demanded cash.
When the clerk placed money on the counter, the suspect fired the shotgun, hitting the clerk in the hand and face.
Jaysen Arancon Reyes is still recovering from his injuries in Calgary’s Foothills Medical Centre. The 26-year-old came to Canada from Philippines as a temporary foreign worker and has worked at the Fas Gas since May.
Defence lawyer Patty MacNaughton requested that Geary be given a psychiatric assessment to determine whether he was suffering from a mental disorder at the time of the alleged offence and may not have been criminally responsible.
MacNaughton said that at the time, her client exhibited “very bizarre behaviour.”
He turned himself in to Blackfalds RCMP two days after the robbery.
Crown prosecutor Murray McPherson said he had no objections to the assessment.
Red Deer provincial court Judge Jim Hunter ordered Geary to be checked out at Alberta Hospital Edmonton.
Geary, who had appeared through closed-circuit TV from the Red Deer Remand Centre, is to return to court on Oct. 31. He will remain in custody.
A second suspect, Eric Michael Ayotte, 29, of no fixed address, faces a single charge of using a sawed-off shotgun to commit a robbery. He is due to appear in court today.
pcowley@www.reddeeradvocate.com