Inquest hears how police stormed house to rescue 2 trapped women before fatal shooting

Jurors at a coroner's inquest are hearing how Saskatoon police stormed a rooming house to rescue two women trapped in a top floor suite with an armed suspect in the basement.

"There were innocent people in the house," Const. Cy Bray testified Tuesday.

"That triggered the entry."

Bray is part of the police tactical unit that fatally shot 36-year-old Ronnie Glen Herman on Oct. 27, 2022, in a house at 1344 Avenue E North. A coroner's inquest at Court of King's Bench is examining the circumstances of the shooting.

• Inquest hears that man killed by Saskatoon police in 2022 challenged cops to shoot him

Bray described how the situation escalated at the house when officers arrived.

Police had been searching for Herman all day. He was supposed to be living under house arrest in La Loche, with a variety of conditions connected to a police shooting nine months earlier. Instead, he had taken off his ankle monitor and was reportedly on the loose and armed in Saskatoon.

Officers tracked him to Avenue E North.

Earlier witnesses at the inquest described their initial encounter with Herman outside the house.

Const. Jay Keating testified that he and another officer spotted Herman with a bike in the alley and bracketed him with their SUVs. When they turned on their emergency lights, Herman did not hesitate, Keating said.

"Herman pulled a black handgun from his pants and I yelled, 'gun, gun, gun,'" Keating testified.

"He dropped the bike and started yelling for us to shoot him. Then he held the gun to his own temple."

Keating said Herman then ran through a series of yards before going back into the house he'd been in.

The tactical unit arrived within minutes with its armoured truck and set up in the yard by the door where Herman had gone into the house. They used a loudspeaker to order him out, but he did not exit.

Bray was one of the tactical members outside the house.

He said two women who were in the basement with Herman came out, "yelling but compliant, with their hands up." A man dressed in black came to the door with them, holding what appeared to be a gun.

"One of the tactical members yelled 'gun' and then delivered six or eight rounds at the door," Bray said.

"The door slammed."

Shortly after, officers spotted two women in the top floor window. That's when they made the decision to go in.

"We were concerned there were people upstairs who had no involvement," Bray said.

Officers confronted Herman on a narrow staircase and shot him. The women were then escorted safely out of the house.

Forensic pathologist Shaun Ladham presented his autopsy results Tuesday.

He said Herman had been shot at least 12 times, the rounds hitting his heart and lungs and causing excessive blood loss. Ladham also noted that the toxicology analysis showed high levels of crystal meth and "active amounts" of ecstasy.

The tests also showed that Herman had recently done cocaine.

The inquest is scheduled to run all week.