On Monday, 67-year-old Douglas Gordon Ewing was arrested by Vancouver police following a brazen robbery attempt at Holt Renfrew.
He is charged with robbery, uttering threats and weapons possession. Sources say that at the time, the suspect had in his possession a loaded gun and two pipe bombs.
Ewing’s criminal past dates back to the 1970s, when he was convicted of attempted murder. He also escaped lawful custody.
And there are more recent convictions. Court documents show that in 2016 he was sentenced for several robbery-related crimes. He was given a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence and handed a lifetime firearms ban.
BC Conservative public safety critic Elenore Sturko said government needs to do more.
“I think that Niki Sharma, as our attorney general, absolutely needs to go back to Ottawa,” Sturko told Global News.
“She needs to have a conversation beyond bail, and we have to start talking about sentencing and what’s happening when a person is in federal and provincial corrections.”
Ewing remains in custody and is due to appear in court on Friday.