A New Brunswick judge has ruled that a publication ban on details about the Fredericton shooting that killed four people including two police officers will remain in effect until at least Friday morning.
The information contained in Prosecutor’s Information Sheets — details of an interaction with police and the alleged gunman, Matthew Vincent Raymond — was previously reported Monday after being filed in Fredericton provincial court.
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Global News, along with other media outlets are challenging the order imposed late Monday afternoon by Justice Judy Clendening. It stated the media cannot “publish, broadcast, re-broadcast, transmit, re-transmit, or disseminate in any media form any Prosecutor Information Sheets.”
The order also required media outlets to remove any published or broadcasted information from the court document. The order remains in effect “until the termination of criminal proceedings against Matthew Raymond or until further order of this Court.”
WATCH: A judge will deliver a decision Friday morning on a publication ban arising from last week’s shootings, that Global News and other media outlets are challenging. Todd Veinotte reports.
In a Fredericton courtroom Wednesday, the Crown attorney Cameron Gunn asked for a large portion of its application to be repealed, but argued that the names of the officers and a civilian, aside from those killed, remain under the ban.
Gunn said while the public has a right to access the information, the privacy of individuals is more important. He said the new ban would only apply until witnesses testify in court, as opposed to the end of the trial.
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David Coles, a lawyer for the CBC and representing the media consortium, said there is no evidence to necessitate a publication ban.
“In our society, the judicial process is open. That’s what gives the public confidence,” Coles told reporters on the steps of the New Brunswick Superior courthouse. “If somebody wants to close part of it so you don’t get to know or see a particular document or thing, the burden is on the person who wants to do that. It’s important that people stand up and protect that right.”
Coles said no information on the sequence of events leading to the arrest of Raymond can be published until a further ruling from the judge.
“What is the evidence that it is necessary to impose a ban now on knowing this information?” he said. “The challenge for the Justice is to now determine if in her opinion, there is evidence that warrants this. We say there isn’t.”
Justice Clendening has reserved her decision until Friday morning at 10 a.m.
Raymond, 48, has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Const. Robb Costello, 45, Const. Sara Burns, 43, and civilians Donnie Robichaud, 42, and Bobbie Lee Wright, 32.
Costello and Burns were killed while responding to reports of gunfire at an apartment complex on the 200-block of Brookside Drive just after 7 a.m. AT last Friday.
Burns and Costello were gunned down as they approached two civilians who were lying on the ground. Robichaud and Wright, who had recently begun a relationship, were also killed.
READ MORE: Alleged Fredericton gunman had firearms licence, gun was legally obtainable
Police confirmed Monday the long gun believed to have been used in the attack is commonly available for purchase, and is not a prohibited or restricted weapon.
“It’s a firearm that can be purchased here in Canada and the suspect does have a licence,” Deputy Police Chief Martin Gaudet told reporters at a news conference.
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“It’s a shouldered weapon – a long gun.”
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A Fredericton business owner who knew Raymond described him as a person who gave “everyone” anxiety whenever he came into the room.
Greg Bradford, the owner of Key Cycle, a bicycle repair shop close to where the shootings happened, told Global News that he believes Raymond had anger issues.
“I had a hard time with him in my shop,” Bradford said. “He threatened me, ‘If you tell anyone I’m shooting out in the woods, I’ll fight you.’”
Others friends and acquaintances have offered varying portraits of the alleged shooter, describing him as a lonely person who loved first-person shooter video games, who expressed Islamophobic views but was also described as a pleasant co-worker.
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Raymond is scheduled to appear in court on August 27 and is currently in custody.
A regimental funeral “to celebrate the lives” of the fallen Fredericton officers will be held on Saturday at the Aitken University Centre at the University of New Brunswick. Global News will livestream the memorial starting at 12 p.m. ET/1 p.m. AT.
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