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Mike Andrew Arcand’s decision to fire a homemade zipgun in the direction of a Saskatoon police officer trying to arrest him on a busy downtown street endangered the lives of officers, the public and himself.

No one was critically injured but the result “could clearly have been worse,” Justice Jeff Kalmakoff said when delivering his sentencing decision on Friday in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench.

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The Crown argued for a sentence in the range of nine to 10 years, while the defence argued for six to seven years. Kalmakoff decided an eight-year prison term would satisfy the need for denunciation and deterrence — principles that must be the focus of sentencing in this case, he said — while also reflecting Arcand’s prior criminal record.

With an enhanced remand credit of approximately two years, Arcand will have six years of his sentence left to serve.

Kalmakoff found Arcand had a high degree of responsibility — he chose to consume methamphetamine, grab his gun, fire it, reload it and attempt to fire it a second time — during the Fourth Avenue South shootout that began around 3 p.m. on Sept 27, 2017.