A coroner’s inquest heard Tuesday afternoon from a woman who was with Brydon Whitstone moments before he died in October 2017.
The inquest heard Amanda Wahobin and Whitstone were intimately involved and had plans of going to a wedding that evening on the night he was shot and killed by police following a high speed car chase through the streets of North Battleford.
Wahobin said she knew the Buick LeSabre they were driving in was stolen but Whitstone did not.
However, he did give her some jewelry he was wearing earlier in the day saying he wanted her to have it, “in case something should happen to him.”
Under examination from the corner’s office, Wahobin seemed unable to recall that she had told police Whitstone had expressed suicidal thoughts to her earlier that day.
However, when RCMP lawyer Sean Sass had her read the statement she gave to police on Oct. 22, 2018, she said she did remember saying this.
RCMP Constable Matthew McKay also testified that he was one of the first people to be involved in the high speed chase of Whitstone’s vehicle.
After receiving a dispatch of a 911 call that described shots being fired from a white vehicle at a pedestrian in the city, McKay began tailing the white Buck LeSabre Whitstone was driving
The RCMP constable said he put on his his lights and sirens but Whitstone refused to stop.
After Whitstone’s vehicle came to a stop after colliding with two RCMP cruisers, McKay said he emerged from his vehicle, revolver drawn.
He told the inquest he believed he was attending to an active threat where the suspect driver had a firearm and another officer might be down and seriously injured.
The inquest also heard it was McKay and another officer who pulled Wahobin from the passenger side of the Buick LeSabre.
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A corner’s inquest into the death of a 22-year-old Indigenous man heard Tuesday morning about the high speed car chase he was in with police minutes before he was fatally shot in October 2017.
The short pursuit took place in North Battleford.
Corporal Robert Topping is an a accident reconstructionist with the RCMP.
He says the Buick LeSabre Brydon Whitstone was driving was incapable of exceeding more than six miles per hour after multiple collisions with police vehicles.
The driver’s side door was also seriously dented which may have made it difficult for him to exit the vehicle as police were requesting.
The officer who fatally shot Whitstone told the investigation his decision was based on the fact he believed authorities were in imminent danger because of the Onion Lake man’s behaviour.
This includes the mistaken police assessment that Whitstone possessed a gun.
Upon further investigation, police later learned they were pursuing the wrong vehicle and there were no firearms in the Buick LeSabre Whitstone was driving.
The inquest is expected to wrap up Friday.
(PHOTO: Brydon Whitstone. File Photo)