Inquest into fatal police shooting hears witnesses were treated differently

A police officer testified that it was "chaotic" when he arrived on the scene of the fatal police shooting of Craig McDougall in 2008, an inquest heard on Tuesday.

Four police officers testified in the witness box, however none of them were directly involved in the shooting. Two arrived on scene after the fact and the third was the former head of the homicide unit. The fourth was former police chief Keith McCaskill, who testified via video from Arizona.

Patrol Sergeant Sami Hadad was on duty in the area when he heard the shots. 

"I observed what looked like fighting, grappling... yelling, commotion," he told the court.

McDougall was shot and killed by police on Aug 2, 2008 outside his father's house on Simcoe Street.

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On Monday, the court heard that police were first called to the home for a reported stabbing at 5:09 a.m. Officers on the scene called in a shooting at 5:17 a.m.

Hadad said he didn't know what exactly transpired when he arrived or who fired the shots. He said he went straight to Brian McDougall, the father of the victim, who would become a witness but Hadad didn't know that at the time.

"I took him to the ground," Hadad testified, adding he immediately put handcuffs on McDougall.

Hadad told the inquest he kept McDougall in cuffs because the father was intoxicated and was still trying to figure out what happened.

Inquest Crown counsel David Gray questioned the officer about his note taking while he was on scene. When asked if he had notified McDougall that he was a witness and was free to go at anytime, Hadad responded that he didn't make a note of that.

"For example, while [McDougall] was on the ground, I'm not going to pull out my notepad," Hadad said.

Court heard the father was in handcuffs for around 45 minutes — at the scene, in the back of a police cruiser, and at the police headquarters — before the cuffs were removed when he was placed in a locked room.

Hadad didn't have notes indicating if, at that time, he notified McDougall he was a witness and free to leave.

The family's lawyer Corey Shefman argued in court on Tuesday that McDougall was never informed of his rights.

The way Craig McDougall's family was treated following the shooting is also being examined as part of a larger scope look at systemic racism. 

'Lethal force' justified, officer testifies 

The former head of the homicide unit Sgt. Robert Bell told the inquest he determined the use of lethal force was justified.

Bell was on duty at the Public Safety Building, the former police headquarters, the morning of the shooting as the involved officers and civilian witnesses were brought in. Officers had used a stun gun on Craig McDougall twice and he had failed to comply with police orders to drop a knife, Bell testified. 

"That is why there was no other option than lethal force," he said.

Bell said the officers were about 2.4 metres (eight feet) from McDougall when acting Patrol Sgt. Curtis Beyak fired his weapon. The officers were in danger at that distance because McDougall was armed with a knife, Bell testified.

The former homicide detective was tasked with completing a review of the shooting, which he completed in 2010.

McCaskill talked about calling Wasagamack First Nation Chief Jerry Knott to inform him one of his members was killed in an officer-involved shooting. McCaskill also recounted meeting with First Nations chiefs and leaders in the weeks following the incident.

He told the inquest about checking on the three involved officers who were in separate rooms at the Public Safety Building.

"I asked if they were okay, got a response and left," he told the court. "They certainly appeared stressed and that's understandable."

'They were all witnesses just like everybody else'

Earlier Tuesday, Sgt. Jim Pelland, who is now retired, told the court he was dispatched at 5:21 a.m. and arrived four minutes later.

Pelland said when he arrived he saw paramedics working on the victim and that he saw a knife a short distance away.

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The family has disputed that McDougall had a knife, saying he was holding a cell phone at the time of the shooting.

Pelland took over the scene as ranking officer and testified that it was "pretty much cleared." He told the court the three officers involved in the shooting came up to him upon arrival.

"He [Beyak] pretty much came up to me and told me he was the one who did the shooting," Pelland said. "He volunteered that the Taser had been used."

Pelland told the court he didn't question the officers and seized their service belts, including their weapons, before sending them to police headquarters in separate cars.

"They were all witnesses just like everybody else," Pelland told the court.

Pelland said he didn't have any contact with the three civilians who witnessed the shooting.

Shefman, representing the McDougall family, asked Pelland if he saw the civilians at Simcoe Street, handcuffed on the lawn. Pelland responded that they were gone by the time he arrived.

However, Hadad testified that he made a note that Pelland instructed him to put Brian McDougall in the car and take him to police headquarters.

On Monday, Brian McDougall told the court he was thrown to the ground and handcuffed when he tried to run to his son who was lying on the lawn. McDougall fell ill on Monday and was excused before finishing his testimony. He is expected to return to the stand on Wednesday.

The officer who fatally shot Craig McDougall, Curtis Beyak, could be on the stand as soon as Thursday.