Halifax mall shooting plot case's preliminary hearing ends

The two peopleaccused ofplotting a mass shooting in Halifaxon Valentine'sDay will be in court in August to set a trial date.

The Crown will produce a "massive" amount of disclosureagainst the two accused in the case.

"The social media in particular is voluminous. It's exceptional, although I would note it's becoming less uncommon for cases to have a lot of social media evidence," prosecutorMark Heeremasaid. "It is truly massive."

He spoke after a preliminary inquiry wrapped up Thursday morning.

Both 23-year-old Lindsay Kantha Souvannarath of Geneva,Ill., and 21-year-old Randall Steven Shepherd of Halifax are charged with conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commitarson, illegal possession ofdangerous weapons and making a threatthrough social media.

The Crown alleges the pair plotted to attack the Halifax ShoppingCentre on Valentine's Day with a 19-year-old man, who was found deadin his Halifax home.

None of the charges has been tested in court.

The pair is next due in court Aug. 6 to set a date for their Supreme Court trial, which will be heard by a judge and jury.

"This matter has the potential to be multiple weeks," Heeremasaid. "The Crown feels we have a strong case to go forward on."

He said they're disclosing hundreds of thousands of pages of information, much of it from social media.

Souvannarath and Shepherd are both remanded into custody and haven't applied for bail.