A “falling out” between two former friends escalated to a brawl on June 29, 2023 and erupted in gunfire that left Zachary Tiglik dead.
A “falling out” between two former friends in Ottawa’s Carlington neighbourhood escalated to a brawl on June 29, 2023 and erupted in gunfire that left Zachary Tiglik dead.
Tyler Leonard-MacLeod, who was 20 at the time of the shooting and was briefly the subject of a Canada-wide arrest warrant, pleaded guilty to manslaughter this week and admitted to shooting Tiglik.
According to an agreed statement of facts filed in court on Jan. 13 to support his guilty plea, Leonard-MacLeod and another friend were hanging out on the porch in front of his townhouse complex at 1500 Caldwell Ave. on the afternoon of the shooting.
A black Chevrolet pulled up to the curb and four young men got out and “confronted” Leonard-MacLeod and his friend, according to the court filing.
One of the four men had previously been friends with Leonard-MacLeod, “but the two had recently had a falling out and were no longer friends.”
Leonard-MacLeod said he saw two members of the group holding something that appeared to be a handgun. He couldn’t tell whether the handgun was real or imitation, according to the agreed facts.
The four young men continued to threaten Leonard-MacLeod until his stepfather came out of the townhouse and stopped the altercation.
As they drove away, one of the group told Leonard-MacLeod that “they would be back and that he was dead.”
Tiglik, who was 19 when he was shot and killed later that night, was with the group in the Chevrolet but he was not known to Leonard-MacLeod. The two had never previously met.
Evening Update
Tiglik was originally from Nunavut, according to friends who launched an online fundraiser to raise money for his funeral.
“Nobody at this age deserves what has happened to him,” Tiglik’s friends wrote on the GoFundMe fundraiser. “He had a big heart and was a loyal friend and a laugh that could warm anyone’s heart and deserves the best we can give.”
A few hours later, around 9:20 p.m., the group picked up a fifth member, parked in a nearby Quickie convenience store parking lot and returned to the Caldwell Avenue townhouse.
The five young men walked down a path that led to the backyard and entered uninvited, where they once again confronted Leonard-MacLeod and two of his friends.
The two groups immediately began arguing and the altercation soon turned physical, according to the agreed facts.
Tiglik exchanged punches with one of Leonard-MacLeod’s friends while others continued verbally sparring.
At one point, Leonard-MacLeod ducked back into his home and returned wielding a shotgun.
Four of the men started running.
“However, (Tiglik) responded by turning and moving towards (Leonard-MacLeod,) challenging him to shoot him,” according to the agreed facts.
Leonard-MacLeod believed at that moment that Tiglik was reaching for a gun in his waistband. Tiglik, as it turned out, was unarmed.
“Out of fear, (Leonard-MacLeod) aimed the shotgun… and fired one time when (Tiglik) was a handful of feet away from him,” according to the agreed facts. “The shotgun slug entered (Tiglik’s) chest and killed him almost instantaneously.”
Both groups scattered and fled the scene after the shooting.
Leonard-MacLeod remained at large for two weeks until he turned himself in to Ottawa police on July 13, 2023. Police had issued a Canada-wide warrant for his arrest and eventually charged him with second-degree murder.
He gave a statement to police and said he believed he saw some of the young men armed with handguns in his backyard. No handgun was ever recovered or identified in the case.
Leonard-MacLeod, who is represented by veteran criminal defence lawyer James Foord with the Edelson Foord Law firm, pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Jan. 13 and was sentenced on the same day.
The murder charge was withdrawn as part of his plea to the lesser offence. He had no prior criminal record.
“At the time the accused fired the single shot at (Tiglik), he did not intend to kill… or believe that death was likely to occur. He did however, intend to cause bodily harm that he knew was not trivial,” according to the agreed facts.
Superior Court Justice Brian Holowka imposed a sentence of seven years in prison, minus the time he has already served since his arrest.
The remaining sentence is approximately four years and nine months.
