Kym Robert Arkell, 41, will serve another two months behind bars after threatening to shoot his probation officer in February. (Image Credit: File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Jordan Davidson

well known to police

‘Shoot you in the face:’ Nanaimo man back in jail after threating probation officer

Mar 27, 2026 | 11:51 AM

NANAIMO — A familiar local offender will spend more time behind bars after threatening to shoot his probation officer.

Kym Robert Arkell, 41, was given 61 additional days behind bars and 12 months probation in relation to a February incident where he threatened to return to the building and shoot the officer in the face or head.

During sentencing in a Nanaimo provincial court on Friday, March 27, Judge Christina Proteau accepted the joint submission and said threats like these, especially yelled loudly in public, carry a lot of weight.

“We live in a time where, unfortunately, public shootings are in the media, and we’re aware of the prevalence on a daily basis. The shooting in the [Tumbler Ridge] area was on everyone’s mind and is still on everyone’s mind. And I’m not saying that’s what you would have done, but that’s what people are thinking of when you’re using words and saying that you’re going to shoot people.”

On Feb. 17, around 1:30 p.m., Arkell entered the B.C. Community Corrections office on Church St. in Nanaimo for his mandatory probationary reporting when he became angry and started making comments about shooting people.

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The probation officer, who’s been working with Arkell since 2024, said she tried to de-escalate the situation before he eventually left.

While leaving, an administration worker heard Arkell say, “You don’t think I would shoot people? Just wait until I come back and shoot you in the head,” according to court documents.

An administrator working in the office also testified they heard Arkell loudly say, “can’t tell you what I’m really doing, shooting people in the face,” and “oh yeah? We’ll see what you say when I shoot you in the face or head,” as he was in the foyer and was heard by others.

Based on Arkell’s history of violence and past offences, including eight convictions for uttering threats, the victims believed his words to be credible and phoned the police.

Arkell was located and arrested around 11:30 p.m. the same day by two officers patrolling an encampment off Aulds Rd. and the Island Hwy., a place Arkell has been known to frequent.

He was sentenced to over a hundred days in jail and 18 months of probation on Oct 10, 2025, in relation to several incidents from the year prior, including an axe-throwing incident and assaulting a security guard with bear spray.

Arkell served 90 days of the sentence before being released.

He pleaded guilty to the single count of uttering threats on Feb. 17, and has been locked up at Nanaimo Correctional Centre (NCC) ever since, given credit for 59 days served in pre-trial custody.

Arkell, appearing at sentencing via video link from NCC, spoke only to say he understood the sentence being imposed on him.

He was handed a two-year jail sentence for arson for causing significant damage to the Northfield Rd. Tim Horton’s location in August 2022.

Other notable crimes include threatening to kill a retail worker at Country Club Centre in 2020, as well as a pair of life-threatening stand-offs with Nanaimo RCMP at Beban Park in 2017 and 2018.

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