Accused of attempted murder, Mike Arcand takes stand in his own defence

Mike Arcand took the stand in his own defence on Friday, painting a completely different picture for the court and an explanation as to how he ended up in the hospital waking to two officers by his bedside after being shot four times by Saskatoon police.

On the afternoon of Sept. 27, 2017, Arcand sat in a parking lot along 4th Avenue South waiting for his girlfriend to finish her school day at SIIT.

It was then he discovered a homemade gun he had forgotten about and built while living on the Onion Lake Cree Nation. Arcand testified he had assembled it by watching videos and with various parts in his yard.

It was for his own protection, he told court, and to safeguard young children in the home against gangs that were out of control on the First Nation.

Without a use for the weapon any more, he said he contemplated how to get rid of it – would he throw it in the river, in a dumpster? He told court at some point, with the weapon in hand, his car door sprung shut and he realized he was accidentally locked out of his vehicle as he stood in the parking lot.

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As an Indigenous male, he testified to the court, that in downtown Saskatoon with a pipe in his hand and among vehicles, he knew how that would look and he was right.

Reports poured into police of a man trying to break into vehicles.

Arcand, who had been up for two days on meth, said he panicked about what cops would find inside the car so he smashed his own driver side window, ingested drugs and grabbed shotgun shells for the slam gun.

When the canine unit arrived, Arcand said he told the officer it was his own vehicle and told court he was terrified of the dog having been bit twice before.

So he ran, thinking he would dump the gun, go to the school and everything could be explained away – but he didn’t.

The doors to SITT were locked and he was swarmed by police. A bean-bag gun was deployed and Tasers plunged into his leather jacket.

According to Arcand, he flinched and that’s when his gun went off.

“Time stopped,” Arcand told court, “I”m going to die, I’m going to die.”

He continued to flee on foot with police in hot pursuit. He shot at a police dog and was finally taken down by four shots and the canine.

During cross-examination, the Crown noted that Arcand has 37 convictions mostly substance-related. On the stand, the accused admitted to knowing the slam gun could kill someone if shot at close range and the Crown pointed out that multiple times Arcand could have just surrendered.

The 35-year-old is on trial for attempted murder and several weapons-related charges. Closing arguments will be made Feb. 5.