A Winnipeg senior citizen is staring down the barrel of a mandatory five-year prison term after allegedly firing off a handgun on the mistaken suspicion his roommate’s girlfriend pilfered a can of his food.

Brian Louis Knockaert, 69, was denied bail Thursday and will stay in custody to face a range of gun-related charges, including reckless discharge of a restricted firearm. He is presumed innocent and the allegations made against him are unproven.

Knockaert has been in lockup since July 24, the same day his alarming actions triggered an hours-long police standoff at his Rue La Verendrye apartment in St. Boniface, the Crown told Judge Cynthia Devine.

Police allege Knockaert fired a single round from a Ruger .22-calibre pistol after being awoken by a noise from the kitchen in his apartment — a place he shared with a roommate and whose girlfriend was a frequent presence, the Crown said.

The shot sailed clean through a garbage can and lodged itself in the doorframe of the couple’s bedroom, Devine was told.

Knockaert is alleged to have then entered their room while still brandishing the gun and angrily accusing her of taking his grub. The couple quickly dressed and fled, with the roommate calling police to the scene, said the Crown.

The woman later informally told police Knockaert had accused her of stealing a can of his beans, prosecutor Katherine Dojack said.

“She said she showed the accused the can he was referring to, which actually turned out to be a can of Alpha-Getti that she had purchased,” said Dojack.

The woman felt “confident she had been shot at,” Dojack told court.

Knockaert was peacefully taken into custody following the standoff, which required police to bring in their heavily-armed tactical support unit.

He told investigators he had no intention of hurting anyone, and that “the reason he fired the gun was the woman ‘was driving me crazy, she just didn’t listen,’” Dojack told Devine.

Knockaert purchased the gun and ammunition from an unknown person for $400, police allege. The restricted firearm was reported stolen after a March 2010 break-in at a home, Dojack said. He had nothing to do with the theft.

At the time of his arrest, Knockaert was bound by a weapons ban stemming from a 2008 drug-trafficking conviction. Because of the pre-existing prohibition, the onus rested entirely on Knockaert to prove he could be safely released.

Knockaert’s lengthy criminal record of 46 prior convictions stretches back to 1961 and includes many crimes of “serious violence,” Devine heard.

However, his last related conviction was in 1997 for weapon possession, defence lawyer Michael Lazar said. He also does not have a history of breaching court orders.

Devine rejected Lazar’s request that Knockaert be freed and allowed to live with his elder sister pending trial.

“You told police ... you fired the gun because (the roommate’s girlfriend) was driving you crazy — that’s a concern, sir. Your sister could drive you crazy. Older sisters tend to make younger brothers crazy,” Devine said.

SERIOUS CONVICTIONS

A sampling of Knockaert’s most serious convictions, through the years: