Man who threatened to shoot up high school put on probation, won't have record

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A Dieppe man who threatened to shoot up a New Brunswick high school has avoided any additional jail time and won’t have have a criminal record.

Romeo Dowyer, 19, was charged last fall with threatening Moncton High School students on Nov. 17. He spent more than 30 days in jail but was eventually released on conditions to stay away from schools and not have guns and weapons.

Dowyer pleaded guilty to the charge on March 15 and was in provincial court for sentencing on Friday. He told the judge he regrets his actions.

“I’m really sincerely sorry about this situation, it was not supposed to happen,” he said during the hearing. “I’m just really sorry about this … the school, and everything.”

Dowyer’s actions were alarming enough to be considered a credible threat by the RCMP, which acted quickly to identify and arrest him. But court heard on Friday the man had been going through a mental health crisis in the months leading up to the threat.

While there were multiple references in court to Dowyer being a high school student around the time of the threat, it was not specifically stated in court that he attended Moncton High School.

Prosecutor Isabelle Dionne told the court police were notified on Nov. 17 that an unknown person was making threats in a Snapchat group. A user who was not identified by their real name told other group members he wanted to commit a school shooting at the high school and planned to get a firearm to carry it out.

Dionne said the Snapchat user posted that he was going to “shoot up” the students and bring them a “world of suffering.”

“They must know pain,” the person wrote.

Another local person showed the posts to his mother, who called police. The prosecutor said the RCMP deemed this a credible threat, in part because a youth in the group – who was also charged – posted a photo of his own father’s rifle while commenting on the shooting threat.

Dionne said Dowyer continued to say he would carry out the shooting and also that he wanted to buy a pistol to kill himself after because he would rather die than go to jail.

An emergency request was made to Snapchat, which provided the user information, and to the internet provider, which helped police determine the user was located on Champlain Street in Dieppe.

Dowyer was arrested, along with the youth who posted the photo of the rifle, which was seized by the RCMP. Dowyer admitted to police he made the threats.

With more than 30 days already served in jail after his arrest, Dionne and defence lawyer Richard Phillips made a joint recommendation for 18 months probation, though Phillips asked for a discharge for the first-time offender, meaning no record of the conviction.

Dionne opposed that, saying with this type of crime it’s important to deter people from making such threats against students.

“General deterrence is a crucial principle since it was a threat to an entire high school,” said the prosecutor.

Phillips said his client had a difficult upbringing in Jamaica and a tough transition to Canada when he came here in 2022. His “significant other” had broken up with Dowyer at school and he was the target of bullying.

Phillips provided documentation that showed Dowyer had made several attempts to get help from a crisis counsellor and at a hospital emergency room in the months leading up to the shooting threat for depression and suicidal thoughts. But the family had limited resources and encountered obstacles. For example a doctor gave him a week’s worth of medication to help, along with a prescription for more, but Dowyer had no coverage to pay for the prescription.

“There were warning signs throughout and attempts to address them,” said the defence lawyer.

“This was someone that knew he needed assistance and was actively trying to get it.”

Phillips also pointed out that while the youth posted a picture of a rifle and allegedly suggested there could be access to that firearm, Dowyer did not actively plan to obtain the rifle to carry out his threat.

Judge Brigitte Volpé said deterrence is important but she feels Dowyer was deterred by his 30-plus days in jail. She said with no record and mental health troubles leading up to this event the court must consider him a candidate for rehabilitation.

The judge put him on probation for 18 months with orders to be assessed and treated for mental health issues and banned him from having guns, ammo and weapons during that time. If he follows conditions he will get a discharge which the judge said she hopes will help him reintegrate into society.

Dowyer never graduated from high school but plans to get his GED.