Man in Alberta Walmart shooting to serve 10 years before eligible for parole

An Alberta judge has imposed a parole ineligibility of 10 years for a man who shot and killed a shopper outside a Walmart store in central Alberta.

Chase Freed, who is 20, pleaded guilty Monday to the second-degree murder of Jim Williams in Red Deer in December 2019.

RCMP said at the time that a masked man armed with a sawed-off semi-automatic rifle shot Williams, who was 69, in front of his wife in the store's parking lot during an attempted robbery.

Williams died in hospital.

Justice Eric Macklin agreed with a joint submission from the Crown and defence that on top of the automatic life sentence, Freed should not be eligible for parole for at least a decade.

Court heard six victim impact statements, including from Williams's wife, his children and from a woman who witnessed the shooting in the mall parking lot.