South Okanagan Canada Day shooter could see up to a decade behind bars

The man convicted of pulling out a handgun and firing several rounds, including one that hit and wounded another young man, during 2022 Canada Day celebrations on a crowded beach on Osoyoos Lake, should spend up to a decade behind bars for an incident that a Crown attorney said “terrified an entire community.”

Two weeks before Christmas, Justice Shelley C. Fitzpatrick found Steven Gallagher, 32, guilty of aggravated assault, reckless discharge of a firearm and pointing a firearm, following a two-week trial last fall.

On Friday, Crown attorney Nashina Devji and defence counsel David Hopkins spent the entire day providing sentencing submissions before Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick found Gallagher, a father of four young children, guilty on all three counts, stating the evidence against him was “overwhelming.”

The day at White Sands

The trial heard Gallagher and a group of his friends attended Canada Day celebrations on White Sands beach on Osoyoos Lake, as did Gallagher’s ex-wife and a group of her friends. There were initially no problems as Gallagher and his ex-wife said hello to each other and the two parties spent time enjoying the Canada Day celebrations.

However, things quickly turned violent when a group of the woman’s friends testified Gallagher started kicking sand towards them.

A fight soon broke out between several people from both parties, a handgun was used to fire several rounds and a young man from the woman’s party was struck in the hip and eventually rushed to hospital as people scattered after hearing shots fired.

Fitzpatrick ruled Gallagher was the man who initiated the fight, pulled out the gun, fired several rounds and struck the young male victim.

Devji told the court Friday she was seeking a sentence of nine to 10 years, to be served consecutively to the seven-plus year sentence Gallagher is currently serving relating to two other convictions.

Hopkins asked for a much more lenient sentence in the range of three-and-a-half to six years, stating his client has made great progress while behind bars, has strong family and community support, and was a productive member of society before getting into serious trouble with the law over the past decade.

Aggravating factors

During her submissions, Devji said Gallagher’s actions that day were reckless, irresponsible and dangerous as hundreds of people were on the beach enjoying Canada Day celebrations.

It was Gallagher who initiated the fight, chose to bring a loaded firearm to a Canada Day party, chose to pull out the gun and choose to fire numerous rounds, she said.

On a busy beach like this, is was “inevitable” someone would get hurt, she said.

This all happened while Gallager was prohibited from possessing a firearm due to previous convictions, she said.

Gallagher’s actions on Canada Day jeopardized the safety of numerous families who had gathered on a beautiful summer day to celebrate Canada’s birthday, she said.

The victim and his group of friends were traumatized by what happened that day and the victim and one of his male friends involved in this dispute no longer celebrate Canada Day because of the trauma surrounding this incident, she said.

This violent incident on a busy beach in the tourist community of Osoyoos had “a chilling effect on the entire community” and there was “complete disregard” for the safety of other people on the beach, she said.

Gallagher’s long criminal record over the past decade, including other convictions involving firearms, cries out for a lengthy jail sentence in the range of nine to 10 years, she said. A “totality” provision under Canadian law, which applies in this case because he is currently serving a lengthy sentence, could reduce the sentence the Crown is seeking to the eight to nine-year range.

Hopkins said, in all the circumstances, a sentence in the range of 3.5 to six years, is more appropriate.

Mitigating factors

Gallagher has “very strong support from his family and the band”, has taken major steps to turn his life around while incarcerated, including completing two dozen courses and being a leader on the range at a federal prison in the Lower Mainland, his lawyer said.

He regularly attends Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings and has sought out and continues to attend regular counselling sessions, including those related to his First Nations culture, he said.

“He has been a model inmate … and is on a straight and narrow path,” he said.

This incident on Canada Day and other incidents that have led to his incarceration all occurred while his client’s life was in turmoil, he said.

Gallagher had suffered the loss of several loved ones in a relatively short period of time and had great difficulty dealing with that trauma and turned to substance abuse to deal with his issues, he said.

Gallagher was also a victim of systemic racism during his young life and it led to a distrust of authority figures, he said.

Gallagher has made so much progress he’s been transferred to a minimum security federal penitentiary well-known for its programs and services to assist First Nations inmates, said Hopkins.

Gallagher has spent the past several months at the Okanagan Correctional Centre in Oliver to attend his trial and waiting for sentencing, but looks forward to returning to the federal institution to get back to counselling he’s benefitting so much from, he said.

Court heard Gallagher was sentenced to more than three years in prison after being found guilty of break and enter and arson.

On Oct. 5, 2023, RCMP officer attended Gallagher’s residence in Oliver around 1 a.m. after there were reports of gunshots fired. Soon after, officers inside the RCMP detachment thought they heard something and found bullet holes in a police car bumper and the smell of gunpowder, said Devji.

They also noticed a truck that resembled the one Gallagher owned and was parked in his driveway had been set on fire and that an Oliver pharmacy had been broken into and set on fire, she said.

Gallagher was found guilty of break and enter and arson, but was not charged with firing the bullets outside the RCMP station even though the judge in that case stated she believed Gallagher was responsible for firing the bullets , she said.

In April of 2021, Gallagher was in a vehicle with several other people when the vehicle was pulled over by police after there were reports of shots fired from a vehicle on the Penticton Indian Band. Police found a 9 mm handgun and other weapons and ammunition, said Devji.

Reports from previous cases reveal Gallagher grew up with loving and supportive parents and multi-generational family, said Devji.

Gallagher was a bright student who excelled in his studies as a teenager, however, he became truant around age 14, she said.

There is no evidence Gallagher was subjected to violence and his parents worked hard and provided for their children, she said.

At age 24, Gallagher was gifted a house by the Osoyoos Indian Band, a house that remains with his family due to their strong support, she said.

The deaths of several people he cared deeply about in a relatively short period of time was very traumatic as it would be for anyone, she said.

Besides an extended jail sentence, Devji asked that Gallagher be prohibited for owning or possessing firearms for the rest of his life once released from prison.

Fitzpatrick said she will render her decision on Gallagher’s sentence on Friday, March 7 at the Penticton courthouse. She agreed Gallagher can view the proceedings via videoconference from the penitentiary in the Lower Mainland.

A group of 10 family members and supporters were in court Friday for the sentencing hearing, including Gallagher’s father Chris, who attended every day of the trial.

This article is published through the Local Journalism Initiative