NewsAlert: Eaton Centre shooter found guilty of two counts of manslaughter

By The Canadian Press

TORONTO — A man accused in a fatal shooting at Toronto’s Eaton Centre six years ago has been found guilty of two counts of manslaughter.

Christopher Husbands had pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, five counts of aggravated assault, one count each of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and reckless discharge of a firearm in the June 2, 2012 mall shooting.

He admitted he was the shooter but his lawyers argued he should be found not criminally responsible due to mental illness.

Defence lawyer Dirk Derstine said Husbands did not have control over his actions after his post-traumatic stress disorder was triggered by a chance encounter with some of the men who had beaten and stabbed him in an ambush attack months earlier.

The Crown, however, argued Husbands sought revenge for the stabbing and carried out the shooting as a form of “street justice.”

Prosecutors acknowledged Husbands had PTSD but said he was in control throughout the attack.

More coming.

The Canadian Press

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