2 charged in gun-trafficking investigation, 2020 shooting: EPS
Two men have been charged with multiple firearms-related offences in connection to a straw-buying operation dating back to 2019.
Straw buying is where one person buys a good or service for someone else who can’t or doesn’t want to themselves.
In February of 2021, Edmonton police were called to a weapons complaint in the area of 125 Street and 132 Avenue. Officers arrested Caleb Lauer, 25, who they say was in possession of a handgun with a defaced serial number.
Lauer was charged with nine offences, including possession of a loaded restricted firearm.
During the investigation, the EPS Firearms Investigation Unit discovered the firearm was used in a shooting in the Castledowns area on Dec. 6, 2020. No injuries were reported in that incident.
On Aug. 25, 2021, Brett Shepherd, the registered owner of the handgun, was arrested, police said. He had a valid firearms license and three other restricted firearms were registered at his residence. Police said the guns were missing when officers searched his home.
“The investigation revealed that Shepherd allegedly purchased the four handguns over a two-month period, with the intention of trafficking those firearms as a straw purchaser,” said EPS in a news release.
“The firearms were allegedly trafficked to Lauer over a period of time between December 2019 and January 2020.”
Shepherd has been charged with nine offences, including firearms trafficking, possession for the purpose of trafficking, and unauthorized possession.
On Sept. 9, 2021, Lauer was arrested again in relation to numerous offenses, including the December 2020 shooting.
He has been charged with 11 offences, including discharging a firearm with the intent to endanger life, firearms trafficking, and possession for the purpose of trafficking.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.