A man fired a rifle at a former employer’s truck, while it had two workers and his girlfriend inside.
Richmond Provincial Court heard on Tuesday how Gordon John Doughty had driven from Alberta to look for Ge Wang and another individual named Danny. He then arranged to meet people from Wang’s Richmond moving company at a remote location close to the south arm of the Fraser River.
Wang had employed him for a while in 2017 and it is unclear what Doughty’s relationship is with Danny.
When Wang’s movers arrived, Doughty’s girlfriend got out of her boyfriend’s car and went into the movers’ truck because she was “fearful of her own safety” after a “nefarious” comment was made by Doughty.
Doughty then pointed a rifle β — which he had stored in a violin case β — at the movers’ truck, prompting them to drive away.
The court heard that, as the truck drove away, Doughty shot at it two or three times, with one shot hitting a tire.
Richmond RCMP were called and attended the scene, but one hour later, they received a call of another shooting involving Doughty at a residence on Granville Avenue near No. 5 Road.
Doughty and his girlfriend had previously visited the residence during their search for Wang and a person called Danny.
Crown Counsel Kimberley Turnbull presented video and photographic evidence to the court showing that Doughty had driven up to the Granville Avenue residence at around 12:54 p.m., after the first shooting, to look for his girlfriend.
Doughty told people at the scene that he would “shoot somebody in the face if he didn’t get his girlfriend right now,” said Turnbull.
He then fired shots at a parked bus and at the gate to the residence and subsequently broke the gate while driving away.
Doughty was arrested later in the day when someone reported him driving in an “odd driving pattern,” said Turnbull.
He was appearing in court on Tuesday to face eight counts in relation to assault with a weapon, unlawfully discharging a firearm and mischief, amongst other things.
Doughty, 65, had earlier pleaded guilty to this series of offences from September 2021.
After defense counsel Allen Goldin gave the court some vague background information on Doughty, provincial court Judge Ellen Gordon pressed him for more specific details on why Doughty went looking for Wang armed with a rifle.
But when Goldin was unable to offer anything more detailed, the judge deferred the sentencing to a later date in the hopes of getting more information.
Both parties have jointly requested that Doughty be sentenced to jail for four and a half years.
