A 20-year-old Angus man will spend nearly two years behind bars after shooting a man in the eye with a BB gun in Barrie last November.
Hunter Samson-Boucher was sentenced to 22 months in jail on Tuesday for the shooting that left Drew Armstrong permanently blind in his right eye.
"One cannot imagine what would cause a person to shoot at people for no reason," Justice Anastasia Nichols said. "The victim has been in mental and physical agony. This was a senseless, thoughtless and cowardly act."
The court heard that Samson-Boucher and co-accused Christian Amato were driving around Barrie on Nov. 19th randomly shooting at people, including children.
At around nine that night their car pulled up beside Armstrong who was walking down Cundles Road near Sunnidale after work. Armstrong says he heard someone yell "hey!" and when he turned to look, he was hit. He fell to the ground and says he knew right away he was severely hurt as the car sped away.
Armstrong was rushed to the hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. A piece of the projectile remains behind his right eye, leaving him to suffer from debilitating headaches. Doctors say he will likely lose the eye. "I really don't care about vision at this point," Armstrong said. "I really care about just saving the eye." Court heard he might even lose his other eye as well.
Samson-Boucher was also sentenced to 18-months probation.
- With files from Tracy McLaughlin
