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A teen from Alberta has been found guilty of shooting a German tourist in the head last year on a highway west of Calgary.
The judge convicted a boy from Stoney Nakoda First Nation of aggravated assault and recklessly discharging a firearm.
The accused cannot be identified because he was 16-years-old at the time of the shooting.
The victim, Horst Stewin, was reportedly driving onto the First Nation’s land with his family when someone in a passing car shot him. The vehicle then veered off the highway and crashed into some trees.
After being transported back to Germany, doctors removed eight bullet fragments from Stewin's brain. He survived, but was left paralyzed on his right side.
The victim’s wife said that a vehicle passed them with the front passenger window rolled down. A man wearing a ball cap then shot him. Three other people in the vehicle testified that the teen was the shooter, although they said that they had not actually seen him pull the trigger.
The court also heard that the accused had been sitting in the seat behind the driver, even though the victim’s wife claimed the shooter was in the passenger seat.
Defence lawyer Balfour Der argued that the Crown had failed to prove the teen’s guilt in the shooting. He added that the three witnesses who testified against his client had ulterior motives, since the teen would face a lesser penalty as a young offender.
The Crown claimed that with all the evidence taken into consideration, they had proven the teen’s guilt.
A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 10, 2020.
-With files from The Canadian Press/Bill Graveland
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