Bush smirked during his arrest, coroner's inquest told

The coroner's inquest into the death of Ian Bush heard Tuesday that he gave a smirk when he was arrested in Houston, B.C., for having an open beer outside a hockey game and for giving a false name to an RCMP officer.

Auxiliary Const. Shane Ketchell, the first of the police witnesses to testify Tuesday morning, saidthe 22-year-old man behaved as if he was playing around with his buddies during the arrest in October 2005.

Bush was shot in the back of the head while inthe custodyof Const. Paul Koester, following what the officer said was a fight for his life. The inquest into the shooting reconvened Tuesday in the small northern British Columbia town of Houston.

Ketchell said Bush's mood changed toanger in the detachment after he realized the seriousness of his arrest. Butwhen he left the building later on, Ketchell said,leaving Bush and Koester alone, Bush appeared more relaxed, and there wasno warning of a problem that would have caused him to stay at the detachment.

Minutes later, Ketchell said, he heard the call on the police radio that Koester had used lethal force.

Koester testified in May that he started to lose consciousness during a struggle with Bushand couldn't remember exactly where he and Bush were positioned when he fired his gun.

A dozen witnesses, including Bush's friends, who watched him being arrested, and RCMP officers, will provide further evidence of how and why Bush died.

The coroner's inquest continues until Friday.