A 22-year-old man convicted of carrying a loaded handgun around a Burnaby mall two years ago was just "unlucky" to find himself in a car involved in a shootout while awaiting sentencing this summer, and it shouldn't be held against him, according to his lawyer.
Arunjit Virk, 22, was in Vancouver provincial court for sentencing last month.
He was found guilty in February of possessing a loaded unserialized handgun inside Metrotown mall March 28, 2021.
During an early sentencing hearing in June, defence lawyer David Karp said Virk had "overcome his substance abuse issues" and surrounded himself with family and "prosocial members of the community."
Less than a month later, however, Virk found himself in a car involved in a shootout, according to information presented at the sentencing this month.
Karp said Virk had gotten a flat tire that day and called "a buddy" he hadn't spoken to for "some time" to drive him home.
"In that short drive, this is when that occurred," Karp said. 'Very unlucky. Sounds suspicious, not doubt about it, but this is what Mr. Virk tells me. He says that he knew nothing about any dispute. He was not involved. He was not carrying any weapons at that particular time."
Crown prosecutor Ariel Bultz interpreted the incident differently.
He noted Virk was on restrictive bail conditions at the time.
"Wrong place, wrong time or not, he's involved a situation where someone's being shot at," Bultz said. "I don’t think there could be a clearer sign of risk to the community."
The sentencing hearing this month was needed because B.C. provincial court Judge Reginald Harris had ordered new presentencing reports in the case.
Karp said a psychological assessment presented in June, which had concluded Virk was a "moderate" risk to reoffend, was based on a video interview that lasted for only 11 minutes when it should have lasted for hours.
Virk had been unco-operative, according to Bultz, but Harris ultimately adjourned the June sentencing so new reports could be ordered.
At last month's hearing, Karp said the new reports confirmed "everything" he had told the court at the early sentencing, but Bultz said the conclusions in the new reports were "relatively unchanged," with a finding that Virk was a "mild to moderate risk to reoffend."
Bultz is calling for a three-year prison sentence in the case.
He pointed out the loaded pistol Virk was caught carrying around busy Metrotown mall was an untraceable "ghost gun," which he described as a “tool of the trade.”
But Karp said Virk didn't know the pistol was unserialized.
He said Virk had bought it from a friend for protection while he was in the grip of a Percocet addiction that created mood swings and paranoia.
"When he brought it to the mall on that particular day, he tells me he had absolutely no intention of using it unless he was attacked," Karp said.
Karp said his client also denies having been involved in a gang.
"There's nothing on this particular day suggesting that he was working with a gang or in some sort of gang situation that he armed himself with a weapon,' Karp said.
Karp proposed a conditional sentence (a jail term served in the community) of between 18 and 24 months with strict conditions to be followed by a period of probation.
Bultz argued that would be an "unfit" sentence given the dangerousness of Virk's offence.
Virk read out a statement to the court saying he had severed ties with influences that had led him astray.
"I am not the person I was on that regretful day," he said.
Harris is expected to sentence Virk on Jan. 23.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
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