Summerside man pleads guilty to 3 charges — but not attempted murder
Court stays attempted murder and other charges against Andre Kimball Gotell
Andre Kimball Gotell was charged with attempted murder and seven other weapons-related offences after a Summerside incident that prompted police to issue an emergency alert and call in crisis negotiators on Aug. 17.
But on Thursday, most of those charges were stayed as Gotell pleaded guilty to three offences: uttering threats to cause death or bodily harm, possessing a weapon or imitation weapon, and possessing a weapon while prohibited by a court order.
"To say the factual circumstances are confusing would be an understatement," Crown prosecutor John Diamond told the court, saying the reliability of the witnesses in the case was not great and officials still don't know the root cause of the incident.
The Crown and defence agreed that the sentence should take into account underlying issues of addiction and drug use. They proposed 60 days in custody on the threats charge and 40 days concurrent on the two others, followed by 18 months probation.
Judge Krista MacKay went along with that, meaning Gotell was sentenced to 100 days in custody but will be released as soon as the paperwork is done, given that he gets time and a half credit for the 68 days he spent in jail after his arrest.
Gotell will also be subject to a lifetime weapons ban and has to stay away from the victim.
Gotell's lawyer, Ben Campbell, said Gotell accepts responsibility for what happened and hopes to use the 18 months of probation to get away from everyone involved in the August incident.
Gotell and Kayla Emily Sonier, both 32, were arrested on the afternoon of Saturday, Aug. 17, several hours after police received a report of a firearm being discharged at a building that houses apartments on Spring Street.
Police issued an emergency alert asking residents in the area to stay indoors, and crisis negotiators were called in to help de-escalate the situation. Gotell and a 65-year-old woman were eventually taken into custody, but the older woman was later released.
It turned out that the person who was the target of the alleged attempted murder was not injured.
On Thursday, court was told that police armed with a search warrant had found ammunition and imitation weapons in an upstairs apartment of the building, where Gotell's mother lived. They included airsoft guns that resembled a Glock and multiple rifles, a BB gun and cartridges, a machete and a scope-style weapon.
"Whether or not they are real guns with bullets or [not] real guns, they're still dangerous," MacKay said. "If the other person doesn't know it's fake, they may have a weapon and it's not fake."
Though some of the charges against Gotell were stayed, Diamond said others might be laid in the future, given that a drug investigation tied to the Spring Street address continues.
"These charges are collateral, but that doesn't mean there won't be a drug prosecution. It just means it is still ongoing."
With files from Nicola MacLeod