Deaths 1 (James Gamble) Attack type Murder–suicide | Date 14 February 2015 | |
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Target Halifax Shopping Centre Weapons Lever action rifle, 16 gauge shotgun Suspected perpetrators Lindsay Souvannarath, Randall Shepherd, James Gamble Location Halifax Regional Municipality, Canada Location Halifax Regional Municipality | ||
The Halifax mass shooting plot was an event that chiefly occurred between February 12, 2015, to February 14, 2015. Police were alerted to three people, identified as Lindsay Souvannarath, Randall Shepherd, and James Gamble, who were reportedly conspiring to commit a mass killing at the Halifax Shopping Centre. Souvannarath and Shepherd were arrested and charged with conspiracy and illegal firearms possession, while Gamble was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
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Details
On February 12, 2015, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, received a tip through Crime Stoppers that three youths were planning to commit a mass killing at the Halifax Shopping Centre. Two of the suspects, Randall Steven Shepherd, 20, of Timberlea, and Lindsay Kanittha Souvannarath, 23, from Geneva, Illinois, had access to firearms and presented a threat.
Around 2:00 am on February 13, upon arrival to a duplex house in Timberlea, a small suburb outside of Halifax, police found the third suspect, 19-year-old James Gamble, deceased from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. At the same time, the police arrested Souvannarath and Shepherd at Halifax Stanfield International Airport. Shepherd was meeting Souvannarath, his online girlfriend, as she arrived from the United States. A 17-year-old from Cole Harbour was arrested at 11 am, but was shortly thereafter released from custody due to determination that he had no idea of, nor involvement in the plot. The police learned that it was the trio's intention to go into a public venue and open fire, attempting to kill as many people as possible, before turning the guns on themselves on February 14 (Valentine's Day). The venue was later disclosed as the Halifax Shopping Centre on Mumford Road.
Shepherd and Souvannarath face charges of conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit arson, conspiracy to use weapons for a dangerous purpose, and unlawfully conveying threats through social media.
Suspects
Souvannarath, Shepherd, and Gamble all met on the website Tumblr, where they shared an obsession with death, true crime, heavy metal music, and Nazi imagery. Gamble's blog included imagery of Nazis and the Columbine High School massacre, along with pictures of guns from World War II, and Shepherd's contained death metal audio tracks and gore, whereas on Souvannarath's blog, headlined with, "School Shooter Chic; violence is the aesthetic," she made many allusions to events of mass murder and mayhem in the month of February as early as several months beforehand, interspersed with anti-Semitic comments in juxtaposition with posts of photosets of Japanese fashion on her pastel-pink background. On February 5, 2015, Gamble reblogged a photo Souvannarath posted on Tumblr saying "Valentine's Day, it's going down", hinting to the would-be shooting.
Charges
In the early hours of February 13, while police surrounded Gamble's home and found him already dead by way of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Souvannarath and Shepherd were apprehended at Halifax Stanfield International Airport shortly after 2AM and taken into custody.
As of February 19, 2015, Shepherd and Souvannarath face charges of conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit arson, illegal possession of weapons for dangerous purposes against the public, and making threats over social media. They appeared in court on March 6, but did not seek bail. Preliminary court proceedings continued on April 10.
On November 22, 2016, Shepherd pled guilty at Nova Scotia Supreme Court on the charge of conspiracy to commit murder, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, less 974 days for time served. Souvannarath will go to trial in May 2017 on charges of conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit arson.
Aftermath
The RCMP and Crimestoppers received many thanks for their work. Only a few shootings in public venues have ever happened in Nova Scotia's history, such as the 1992 Sydney River McDonald's murders in Cape Breton.