Jayco Kownirk awaits sentencing for charges from 16-hour standoff
Accused pleads guilty to 4 charges after September incident
Jayco Kownirk, a man facing charges after a standoff in Iqaluit last fall, walks into the Nunavut Court of Justice on Wednesday. (Photo by Arty Sarkisian)
A man responsible for a 16-hour standoff with Iqaluit RCMP last September apologized to Judge Mark Mossey Wednesday during a court appearance to determine his sentencing date.
Jayco Kownirk is convicted of four charges, including break and enter, uttering threats, using an imitation firearm during an offence, and breach of probation. He entered a guilty plea on Monday.
Police responded to reports on Sept. 27 of shots fired in an apartment on Tasilik Street in the city’s Lake Subdivision area. Iqaluit RCMP’s containment team deployed a drone and used crisis negotiators during the standoff.
Police issued a shelter-in-place order emergency alert after 1 a.m. and officers remained on scene until the standoff ended after 4 p.m.
“I’m very thankful that you’re here to be sentenced and not to determine why you were killed that day,” Mossey told Kownirk in court, while thanking him for the apology.
Defence lawyer Vukasin Simeunovic asked Mossey to consider a sentence of time served since his Sept. 27 arrest.
Kownirk has a lengthy record, including 150 prior convictions — most of them property crimes committed in Ottawa prior to 2022.
Mossey said he will share his written sentencing decision on July 30.
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