Sawed-off shotgun among 6 weapons charges for St. John's man
A St. John's man is on trial for six weapons charges, after police arrested him last year with a sawed-off shotgun in his vehicle.
John Squires, 30, was arrested in July 2014.
Squires is charged with having a prohibited weapon, removing the serial number from the gun, and violating a court order not to have a firearm, among other charges.
Police received a call to attend Froude Avenue in St. John's around 2:30 a.m., after a report came in of a man sitting in a black Pontiac Torrent near a community centre.
Const. Brendon McGuire responded to the call, and was told the man had a rifle or a shotgun.
McGuire called for backup, turned on his emergency lights and withdrew his firearm after getting out of his vehicle.
According to McGuire, he pointed his weapon downward for a high-risk takedown.
Gun under gym bag
Squires was in the driver seat of the Torrent with the window down when McGuire approached the vehicle.
McGuire said he ordered Squires to put his hand out through the window and not to move.
Squires was taken out of the car, put on the ground and handcuffed when backup arrived at the scene.
During a search of the vehicle, McGuire said he spotted a black gym bag with a barrel sticking out from underneath.
The barrel spotted by McGuire turned out to be a sawed-off shotgun.
In the gym bag, McGuire said he found two shotgun shells. He also found a knife in the console between the front seats of the car.
Turning his life around
Const. Stacy Sweetland, who arrived to the scene as backup, testified in court Monday that when she believed McGuire had been pointing his gun at Squires.
Sweetland also testified Squires told her they would find the shotgun in their search of the Torrent.
During Monday's testimony, Sweetland said Squires told her he had the shotgun for five years but was going to get rid of it because he had an 11-month-old daughter and wanted to turn his life around.
Squires has an eight-page criminal record, including breaking and entering and weapons offences.
When the case is back in court later in March, the defence will argue that Squires' rights were violated and police should have had a warrant before searching the vehicle.
The case will be back in court on March 18.
