Firearms charges laid against 23-year-old also accused of assaulting officers: BCPS

A 23-year-old man is facing multiple firearms charges, Coquitlam RCMP announced Friday, more than a month after those charges were approved.

Tyrel O’Hearn has been charged with possession of a loaded prohibited or restricted firearm, occupying a vehicle knowing there was a prohibited firearm, unauthorized possession of a firearm and storing or transporting a firearm in a manner contrary to regulations.

The BC Prosecution Service approved the charges against O’Hearn on Feb. 4, Coquitlam RCMP said in a news release Friday, more than a month after the fact. The detachment did not explain the delay.

The BCPS told CTV News O’Hearn made his first court appearance on the charges on Feb. 7. His next appearance is scheduled for March 26.

Mounties said the charges followed “an extensive investigation by the Coquitlam RCMP Gang Enforcement Team.”

“CGET conducts proactive uniformed patrols and investigations to ensure our citizens and neighborhoods are safe,” said Const. John Graham, in the release.

“The Coquitlam RCMP and our CGET officers’ have a multi-faceted approach to policing which helps keep guns and gangs off of our streets and out of our communities.”

Police said O’Hearn “was released by the courts” with “numerous conditions,” including a ban on possessing weapons.

According to the prosecution service, the four firearms offences are alleged to have occurred on Jan. 30, 2024, more than a year before the charges were approved.

The BCPS told CTV News O’Hearn is also facing two counts of assaulting a peace officer and one count of willfully resisting or obstructing a peace officer. His next court appearance on those charges is scheduled for March 28.

In February 2024, O’Hearn was given a conditional sentence order of two years less a day, followed by one year of probation. The sentence stemmed from a conviction for “possession of a prohibited weapon/device/ammunition without a licence,” according to the BCPS.

In that case, O’Hearn was also given a 10-year firearms prohibition and ordered to pay a $200 victim fine surcharge.

In May 2024, O’Hearn came before the court for a breach of his conditional sentence. The BCPS did not share details about the nature of the breach, but said O’Hearn admitted the circumstances surrounding it.

“At the time of the hearing, he had spent three days in custody,” the BCPS said. “His (conditional sentence order) was suspended for a further two days, then reinstated for the remaining period of the order.”

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Spencer Harwood