Former Coe student appears in Canadian court on murder conspiracy charges

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia - The former Coe College student implicated in a foiled plot to open fire at a Canadian shopping mall appeared briefly in a Canadian courtroom Tuesday morning.

Lindsay Souvannarath, 23, and Randall Shepherd, 20, are each charged with four offenses relating to the plot: Conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit arson, conspiracy to possess weapons and conveying a threat using social media. Both will be back in court March 6 for a bail hearing, according to reports from ABC-TV.

Souvannarath and Shepherd did not seek bail in the court appearance, and Crown Prosecutor Shauna MacDonald says it is her intent to ask the judge not to grant bail. The two suspects have until March 6 to secure counsel.

Authorities say Souvannarath, 23, most recently of near Chicago, is one of three people suspected of planning to carry out the attack Saturday at a Halifax, Nova Scotia, mall, authorities said. Souvannarath and Canadians Shepherd and James Gamble, 19, planned to go to the mall to kill as many people as possible, authorities said. Gamble was discovered dead in a Halifax house.

Souvannarath graduated from Coe College in 2014 with a double major in English and creative writing, the college confirmed. She began attending in 2010.

Shepherd and Gamble were childhood friends in Halifax who met Souvannaroth online, and all three admired the teenagers who killed 12 students and a teacher during a high school shooting spree in 1999 in Columbine, Colorado, according to media reports.

Shepherd wore a black leather jacket for the court appearance, his long blond hair unkempt. Souvannarath, a petite woman with long dark hair, smiled briefly as she sat.

They were both represented by the same duty counsel, but Prosecutor Shauna MacDonald said she expected they would seek their own lawyer or lawyers in the coming days.

MacDonald told reporters after the court appearance that the conspiracy charges stem from the fact that while no act was committed, there had been an agreement to commit the crimes.

'The burden in any criminal charge for the police is reasonable grounds to believe an offense has been committed,” she said. 'The basis of conspiracy is an agreement, so it can be a conversation.”

The two were arrested at Halifax airport after Souvannarath arrived from Illinois and was met by Shepherd, said police, who are investigating Gamble's death.

'There were three long-barrelled rifles seized during the investigation and all three were seized at the residence...where the 19-year-old (Gamble) was found deceased,” Nova Scotia RCMP Commanding Officer Brian Brennan told reporters on Saturday.

Canadian media reported Gamble had shot himself. Police declined to confirm those details.

Reuters contributed to this story.