NORTH BATTLEFORD - The three-day Coroner's Inquest into the death of Trent Byron Angus concluded at the Dekker Centre in North Battleford Wednesday.
The six-person jury found that Angus died by homicide, with multiple gunshot wounds to his abdomen and head on Feb. 27, 2022, between 12:03 a.m. and 12:07 a.m., according to the Saskatchewan Coroner's Service.
The jury did not make any recommendations.
In an email to SaskToday, the Saskatchewan Ministry of Justice and Attorney General stated: "The inquest jury is responsible for ascertaining the identity of the deceased and how, when, where and by what means the person died. They may also make recommendations to prevent similar deaths if they feel it is appropriate."
According to The Coroners Act, 1999, the jury shall, at the conclusion of the inquest, retire to consider the evidence and determine the identity of the deceased and how, when, where and by what means the deceased died. The jury shall not make any finding of legal responsibility. The jury may make any recommendation that it considers to be of assistance in preventing similar deaths.
The inquest was ordered after the Saskatoon Police Service conducted an independent, external investigation surrounding Angus’s death.
Angus was fatally shot by RCMP on Feb. 27, 2022, during a raid on an industrial building in Waseca.
During the raid, two men and one woman exited the building but a fourth person, Trent Angus, stayed inside and wouldn’t comply with police commands, said RCMP.
When Angus exited the building he still wouldn’t comply with police commands, said RCMP, so they used non-lethal methods to force him to comply. Officers said, however, that they saw Angus display a firearm and gunfire was exchanged. An RCMP officer received a non-life-threatening injury during the incident.
One of the four officers who attended on the day of the shooting, with the aim to execute a search warrant, testified Tuesday:
He was carrying a 40-millimetre launcher, a device that projects sponge-like projectiles.
"It sounds like a gunshot," he explained of the device.
"My role was to get on the scene," he said.
The Coroner's counsel, lawyer Blaine Beaven, asked the officer to describe the events of the day.
He was accompanied by three other officers at the site. They were all stationed outside the building near the water tank.
The officer who testified Tuesday was looking for surveillance cameras to try to shoot at, but couldn't see any.
He noted three subjects came out of the building and were taken into custody.
He then heard gunshots coming from inside the building.
The police released CS gas, a type of tear gas, into the air.
The officer said he then saw the green side door open and a male subject came out. He did not at the time know it was Angus.
He recalled police told the man to come out with his hands up.
But the officer noted Angus came out with his left hand in the air, possibly to try to push away the CS gas, while his right hand was hidden in his sweater pocket.
"I was concerned he had a weapon in his sweater, potentially a handgun," he said. "He didn't listen [to the police commands]."
The officer then aimed his 40-millimetre launcher toward Angus's leg.
He said he hoped by shooting a launcher round the subject would comply.
When Angus was shot by the projectile he screamed and yelled, said the officer.
Then, he saw Angus' gun.
"I saw the male subject with a handgun. I yelled: 'gun, gun, gun.'"
He then heard shots, and then saw Angus in a prone position.
Then, he radioed the RCMP to say the team was involved in a shooting.
Attorney Emily Arthur, with the Department of Justice, from the counsel representing the RCMP, next questioned the officer about the lighting at the time of the event.
He noted it was dark outside, but there was brightness coming from all the vehicle lights on during the incident.
The officer said after he shot the 40-millimetre launcher, he looked down and saw that the subject was pointing a firearm at the RCMP.
"He pulled out a handgun ...," he said. "He was pointing it at us."
Beaven then asked if there was any plan to shoot at the incident.
The officer said there wasn't a plan to shoot anybody.
"We wanted the subject to exit peacefully, to take them into custody," he said.
- With files from Lisa Joy
