Officers who shot man tell inquest it was only option

Sep 10, 2014 | 1:32 PM

The inquest into a man’s death after being shot by two Prince Albert police officers revolves around a moment that “seemed like a flash.”

Cst. Ryan Banadyga was the responding officer after a call about a woman who was chased and punched in the head outside an East Hill apartment by her boyfriend. This happened on the evening of July 9, 2013.

The man who threw the punches was Ryan Natomagan-Nelson, 26.

Cst. Banadyga told a jury the victim pointed him to the split level apartment where Natomagan-Nelson went after the assault.

The rookie constable approached the open door to the home, announced himself as a city police officer and called out for Natomagan-Nelson. When no one answered Cst. Banadyga called for assistance to arrest the man, for both this assault and on warrants for arrest he had from a previous assault.

Cst. Dwight Leblue decided to help on the call “because he [Cst. Banadyga] was fairly junior.”

The two officers agreed they had warrant to enter the house without invitation to arrest Natomagan-Nelson.

They saw a woman passed out on the couch during a sweep of the upper floor. Previous testimony identified her as Clarissa Nelson, Natomagan-Nelson’s sister.

Both stated they went into this call with no expectation of what came next, with Cst. Banadyga saying “as we entered I had no concern other than just to arrest him.”

The officers then went downstairs, with neither finding Natomagan-Nelson after scanning a bedroom on either side of the stairs.

The final room was the bathroom, where Cst. Leblue heard a thump. He pointed at the door to indicate to Cst. Banadyga that someone was inside.

When Cst. Leblue tried to open the door he felt resistance before it opened. Behind it was Natomagan-Nelson, holding a kitchen knife.

The look in his eyes is something Cst. Leblue said he’ll never forget.

“In all my years I’ve never seen anyone look that way,” he told the jury, describing it as a gut-twisting fire in Natomagan-Nelson’s eyes.

Cst. Leblue called out “knife, knife!” the moment he saw the knife. In that moment he said he thought they were losing control of the situation in a hurry. Both officers were in close proximity to the knife-wielding Natomagan-Nelson in the small hallway, with only six feet between them.

According to Cst. Leblue, this small space with such a high threat and no quick escape option is a nightmare situation for police officers.

Both officers drew their pistols, because a knife is considered a threat to officers. Cst. Leblue explained officers are trained to eliminate that threat using their highest level of force, which is their firearm. Over the radio, Cst. Banadyga said “one at gunpoint.”

Natomagan-Nelson then put the knife up to the side of his neck. During this time both officers were yelling “don’t do it, put the knife down” repeatedly.

Cst. Leblue told the jury in that moment he thought Natomagan-Nelson would rather kill himself than go into custody.

However, within a moment Natomagan-Nelson moved the knife from his neck to his shoulder in an aggressive stance. He quickly faked a lunge at Cst. Leblue.

Following that, Cst. Leblue said all he could think was Natomogan-Nelson was going to kill him.

“This is a guy on a rampage,” he said adding that nothing they said was getting through.

Natomagan-Nelson then lunged and ran at Cst. Leblue with his “knife up, running, to stab me in the neck.”

Cst. Leblue doesn’t remember Natomagan-Nelson saying anything else leading to that moment, where he loudly and angrily yelled “f***ing do it!”

Both officers, who had their pistols drawn and targeted on Natomagan-Nelson, shot.

Cst. Banadyga shot twice, but didn’t realize it until he saw Natomagan-Nelson reeling backwards and dropping the knife.

Cst. Leblue shot once, but clearly recalls three gunshots ringing in his ear. Natomagan-Nelson was so close the pistol barrel could have hit his chest.

The damage to his arm was visible to Cst. Leblue before Natomagan-Nelson spun around from the gunshot, hit the wall and slid downwards. He was shot in the arm and abdomen.

As these officers spoke about those moments, members of Natomagan-Nelson’s family cried openly in the crowd. Some sobbed and shook their heads as Cst. Leblue described Natomagan-Nelson saying “f***ing do it!”

The time between the knife appearing and officers shooting was only a 10 to 20-second period, Cst. Leblue said. Both officers said it flew by until Natomagan-Nelson was on the floor.

He was out cold for a short time and when he came to didn’t know where he was, Cst. Leblue described.

Natomagan-Nelson was moving, kicking around and trying to stand up.

“I was in shock. I didn’t know what else to do besides keep him still,” Cst. Banadyga said.

One of the responding paramedics with Parkland Ambulance, Amanda Flock, described a similar issue with Natomagan-Nelson rolling around and in need of restraint after she arrived.

She described a very tight space with four paramedics responding and two officers “holding the scene.”

They got him on a spine board as he yelled things like “knock me out, I need something for the pain,” followed by a string of expletives.

Even with what Flock called a very successful response from her team, she said you work with the situation you’ve come into. The abdomen shot was serious.

She last saw him at 9:29 p.m., fully alert in a trauma room with two doctors and two nurses.

Were there non-lethal options?

Most of the inquiries from the jury and others with authority to ask questions of the witnesses revolved around the other options available under the circumstances.

When the officers saw Natomagan-Nelson with the knife to his throat, Cst. Banadyga quickly reholstered his weapon to pull out his pepper spray.

Cst. Leblue said he told Cst. Banadyga to get his gun back out because “pepper spray was not an option.”

In his testimony, Leblue received many questions about this decision.

The jury and others with authority to ask questions of the witnesses were later reminded their questions are meant to follow the purpose of the inquest. The purpose of the inquest is to inform the public of those circumstances, provide recommendations to prevent future deaths of that nature, and to warn the public of practices that cause deaths in that manner.

Cst. Leblue explained pepper spray does not work on everybody, and if it did not work on Natomagan-Nelson the threat of being stabbed was still present.

In addition, Cst. Leblue said he responds very strongly to pepper spray. In the closed quarters they were in, there was a high likelihood he would react too and end up in even less control of the situation.

As for options to exit the area, there were none, Cst. Leblue said. Going up the stairs would have exposed their backs, making them an easy target for the knife.

Meanwhile the other bedroom was near Natomagan-Nelson, cancelling its option as an escape.

The last bedroom held overturned furniture, and with the lights off Cst. Leblue said he could easily trip backing into the room and make him easy to attack.

On the use of force continuum, Cst. Leblue said their batons and pepper spray are meant for use only when someone is being combative. This does not include when they have a weapon.

He also said officers are taught to shoot for the centre of mass on a person. Several people asked if shooting in the leg or the hand to get Natomagan-Nelson to drop the weapon was a possibility.

Cst. Leblue reiterated their training does not demand that, adding “it’s not the movies.” He called the possibility of shooting the weapon out of Natomagan-Nelson’s hand impossible for anyone to do.

Finally, both officers agreed a Taser would not have been appropriate in the situation they were in. They were not carried by officers at the time, but have been back in the hands of Prince Albert police since January 2014.

Cst. Leblue said if he had the Taser at the time, he would have used it before Natomagan-Nelson lunged.

“I would have used it the moment he put the knife to his neck.”

The effect on the officers

Both officers testified they’ve drawn their weapons before and since this event, but they have never fired at someone before or since.

For Cst. Banadyga, the incident kept him away from work for over a month. He visited privately with a mental health professional before he was cleared to return.

“It’s a decision I have to live with every day,” he said, but added he couldn’t have lived with himself if he hadn’t acted.

“It’s something that had to be done to save Cst. Leblue.”

Cst. Banadyga said since then he sometimes feels more on edge and finds himself watching people’s hands more often.

Cst. Leblue had difficulty articulating the personal effect of the shooting, calling it “not good” and “terrible.”

“You sometimes get worried that it happened so easy that it could happen again, and you never want it to.”

Although he said he’s very lucky to be alive, Cst. Leblue sees no other option for what happened that night. He said he waited until the last second possible to shoot.

The inquest will continue through to Friday.

claskowski@panow.com

On Twitter: @chelsealaskowsk