Court documents outline Shawn Rehn’s extensive criminal history

CTV News has learned the suspect in the RCMP shootings is Shawn Rehn.

Days after two RCMP officers were shot at a casino in St. Albert, and the shooter was found dead, court documents are painting a clearer picture of the gunman’s troubled past.

Documents outline the criminal past of Shawn Rehn, 34, dating back to 1998 – in 17 years, Rehn faced more than 100 charges.

Those charges ranged from a break and enter in 1999, escaping custody in 2010, and firearms offences the following year.

Also, in 2009, a woman was granted an emergency protection order against Rehn – in the application, she said “He choked me and stepped on my hand and ripped out my hair and broke my collarbone.”

She said he forced her and their young daughter to sleep in a room beside a loaded gun because he thought people would come to their home to start trouble.

In addition, Rehn had a scheduled court appearance on January 6, 2015 – he was accused of dangerous driving, disqualified driving and evading police, but he did not show up for his court date.

According to officials, in October, 2010, Rehn was ordered to have a 10-year firearms prohibition in connection to firearms-related charges. He was also sentenced to three years in jail for those charges.

Rehn died Saturday in a home east of St. Albert – the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team is investigating his death, which is considered an ‘in-custody death’.

His death came hours after RCMP said he shot Cst. David Wynn and Aux. Cst. Derek Bond early Saturday morning at the Apex Casino in St. Albert. Investigators said Rehn brought a handgun into the casino prior to the shooting.

In a news conference Sunday evening, RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson said he didn’t understand why Rehn had been released.

“Just a series of conditions that don’t make sense to me as I review it and I’ve been policing for 30 years,” Paulson said. “I have not seen the likes of what I have seen here.”

In total, Rehn was sentenced to 14 years behind bars in the past 15 years, time he wouldn’t have served once parole was factored in.

CTV News pulled parole documents for Rehn, and found the Parole Board was concerned he would reoffend when released on statutory release – he did and his parole was revoked.

The documents also state Rehn refused a program for drug rehabilitation.

Paulson asked RCMP and the Criminal Justice System to examine why someone with a lengthy record wasn’t behind bars.

However, one local lawyer said a review is unnecessary.

“There’s going to be, every once in a while, terrible cases that come up on us, but you can’t use this as an example to say the system is broken,” criminal lawyer Dino Bottos said.

With files from Breanna Karstens-Smith