Kamloops man found guilty of robbery, accidentally shooting innocent neighbour

Jurors took just three hours to find Bradley John Hartling guilty of five of the six counts he was facing related to a robbery and pistol-whipping incident that resulted in an accidental shot fired through the wall, hitting an innocent man.

Today, March 10, the 12 jurors found Hartling guilty of charges including assault with a weapon, careless use or storage of a firearm, pointing a firearm, committing a robbery where a firearm is used and uttering threats. He was found not guilty of the sixth charge, which was use of an imitation firearm. Since the shots were proven to have been fired through the wall, the charge was moot. 

Hartling was found guilty of being the man who entered a Holt Street apartment on Nov. 4, 2017. He then pistol whipped a man, stole keys to his aunt's truck and accidentally fired a shot through the apartment wall, injuring a man in the neighbouring apartment.

During the closing statements yesterday, defense lawyer Lisa Scruton argued that it was impossible to positively identify Hartling as the suspect, as no witnesses on the stand could confirm under oath that it was him. In a surveillance video of the incident, one man confirmed answered yes to the question: "Was that Brad Hartling?"

That witness, Matthew Carstairs, later refused to identify Hartling during the trial.

Hartling will be sentenced at a later date.

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