'There were no bullets': Moose Jaw police, RCMP testify at inquest into death of Sask. man killed by police
The RCMP officer who fatally shot a 26-year-old near Belle Plaine, Sask., in 2022 said he didn't know until an inquest this week that there were no bullets in the victim's gun.
Const. Burton Steel testified Tuesday on the second day of the coroner's inquest into Ryan Booker's death.
Booker died on Highway 1 after a six-hour standoff with police on July 17, 2022.
At the time, RCMP said they received a report of a man who was sitting in his car and making threats toward his partner. The man then drove from the Superstore parking lot in Moose Jaw, where his partner's car had been parked, and pulled over near Belle Plaine, RCMP said.
Steel was one of the officers called to assist officers on the shoulder of Highway 1. He said he was told by his superior to travel by tactical vehicle to "box in" Booker's car to prevent him from driving away again.
Steel was also assigned to act as the team's sniper, to provide extra coverage for officers as they got closer to Booker's car.
Steel said the distance between him and Booker's golden Toyota was about 70 metres.
"At 70 metres you could shoot a nickel or a quarter," Steel said.
Over the course of the standoff, Booker was seen propping his rifle up on the window of the vehicle, and moving it up to the sky and down again. Steel said he did not find that threatening.
Then, Steel said, Booker propped his gun up at a 45-degree angle and pointed it in the direction of the officers.
"As the rifle levelled toward my location, the scope was down like it was pointed to shoot," Steel said.
Officers from RCMP, Moose Jaw police and Regina police were all at the scene. Steel said any of them could have been at risk of being shot if he didn't intervene.
"You wouldn't have time to stop that," he said, pointing to Booker's 2.43 rifle.
Steel aimed for the only part of Booker he could see — the head.
RCMP Const. Breaden Loney was also on scene that day. He was parked at the bumper of Booker's vehicle when he saw its left rear window vehicle shatter.
"I heard on the radio shots were fired," Loney testified Tuesday.
He said he started getting medical equipment as officers discussed how to approach the vehicle — Booker's gun was still pointing out the window.
Officers decided to have a police "drag" Booker out to separate him from the weapon. Loney said when that failed, two officers went up to the vehicle and took Booker out.
Loney and a medic from the Regina Police Service assessed Booker. He said the bullet had hit Booker's neck.
"There were no vital signs," Loney said.
After the assessment, he approached the vehicle and grabbed Booker's rifle to clear it.
"There were no bullets in it," Loney said.
'The walls were closing in'
Const. Jay Sills with the Moose Jaw Police Service said the start to his seven-hour shift on July 17 was different than most. When Sills got to the station, his staff sergeant was quite "heightened" and "overwhelmed."
"There was a lot of pressure for me to make the phone call to Ryan," he said.
"I kind of just got thrown into it sooner than we normally would," Sills said. "I only knew his name and a little bit about the incident."
Sills made contact with Booker between 1:30 a.m. and 2 a.m. to advise he would be the new "go-to person" for any demands or requests — taking over for his colleague.
"He actually was fairly calm, which was surprising," Sills said. From what Sills had been told previously, he expected Booker to be in a state of crisis.
Booker was parked in the SuperStore parking lot at the time and repeatedly asked to speak to his girlfriend, Sills said. He also confirmed he had a loaded rifle and was serious about using it.
Sills talked on-and-off with Booker for five hours. He said their longest conversation lasted up to 20 minutes.
"He talked about suicide for a long time," Sills said. "But he didn't feel like he was capable of doing it himself, so he wanted to get the police to do it for him."
Sills said Booker's behaviour changed drastically after he left the SuperStore parking lot. Sills said he began to talk about travelling to a lake or cabin to "take care of himself there."
Booker did not want to go to jail or the hospital, Sills said.
Police followed Booker in and out of Moose Jaw for about an hour until Sills eventually convinced him to pull over.
"Things did get a little heightened," Sills said, noting all the response teams that showed up. "So all the pressure felt like it was on him."
He said he believed many times that he was building some rapport with Booker, but things would end up right back where they started.
Sills said the call to box in Booker's vehicle was made around 4 a.m. Booker called Sills in a panic about what would happen to him.
"He was crying and upset, almost like the walls were closing in," he said.
Sills said he asked Booker many times to put the gun down, talking about Booker's family, but Booker "just wouldn't do it."
"He just would say 'They're better off without me, I don't get to see the kids anymore,'" Sills said.
Sills spoke with Booker for the last time around 7 a.m..
"He hung up in a heightened state," Sills said.
"Shortly after we were told he pointed a gun at an RCMP officer and he was shot on the scene."
Inquests like this are not criminal proceedings and do not result in criminal charges. Juries are asked to determine the facts of the death and make recommendations to help prevent similar incidents in the future.
The six-person jury is expected to start on its recommendations on Wednesday.
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