Officer tells inquest he thought man he shot had a gun

A police officer says an BATTLEFORD Indigenous man who died in 2017 after being shot by Saskatchewan RCMP was hit with pepper spray first.

An inquest into the death Brydon Whitstone heard that officers in North Battleford had boxed in a vehicle carrying Whitstone and a passenger after a chase.

RCMP Sgt. Pernell St. Pierre told the inquest he broke the car’s passenger side window to get a better look inside. He said he released pepper spray inside the car, but Whitstone did not react to it.

St. Pierre said Whitstone, who was 22, also didn’t respond to calls from officers to show his hands.

The inquest had already heard that Whitstone put his right hand into his pants after he was told to get out of the car, even though he didn’t have a weapon.

RCMP officers testified they followed the sedan Whitstone was in because it matched the description of one involved in a possible drive-by shooting. The inquest heard the car Whitstone was driving crashed into two police vehicles before it finally came to rest.

Const. Jerry Abbott told the inquest the car that Whitstone was driving was already boxed in when he arrived on the scene, but Whitstone was still trying to get away.

Abbott said Whitstone appeared to reach for something in his pocket which Abbott thought was a gun, so he shot the man from Onion Lake twice in the chest.

An investigation by Regina police determined no criminal charges should be filed against police.

Earlier this week, jurors heard that Whitstone did not have a gun, though he did have ammunition in his pocket.

Outside the courthouse, Whitstone’s mother, Dorothy Laboucane, said Whitstone was a loving father, brother and son. She said she will never forgive Abbott.