WARNING: This story contains content some readers may find disturbing.
An East Vancouver Canadian Tire employee who was stabbed by a man who was later fatally shot by police testified Tuesday at a coroner’s inquest into the death.
Vancouver police shot Daniel Peter Rintoul, 38, nine times after he stabbed a police officer in the parking lot of the Grandview Highway retailer in November 2016.
The clerk, whom Global News has agreed not to identify per a coroner’s request, told the inquest how he noticed Rintoul’s finger on the trigger of a can of bear mace as he approached the store’s gun counter.
He said he told his co-worker, “I think we’re going to be in some s—,” before asking Rintoul if he could help him.
The clerk testified Rintoul told him, “Give me the guns,” and that he replied, “Which ones would you like?”
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Rintoul then deployed the bear spray, the clerk said, at which point the clerk grabbed a rifle on the counter and struck Rintoul to try to slow him down. Rintoul then grabbed the rifle, and slashed the clerk, stabbing him twice in the back.
The clerk testified he was worried Rintoul would get to the guns because there were children in the store.
The inquest also heard video testimony on Tuesday from an 82-year-old man whom Rintoul held hostage during the incident.
In the video, the older man described seeing a pool of blood and a body on the ground as he got out of the store’s elevator.
He described hearing another man yell to “Get back down!” and was headed for an exit when he said he saw Rintoul coming down an escalator.
Rintoul showed him a knife and told him to do what he was told and he wouldn’t get hurt, the witness said. Rintoul then took him to an exit, where he released him prior to his altercation with police.
One of the officers was stabbed during that altercation, before opening fire on Rintoul, who can be heard screaming “Finish me!” in video captured by witnesses.
A day earlier, the inquest heard from Rintoul’s sister, Sheri Cardall, who said he had started to become “a very angry person” starting at about age 10, and struggled with mental health issues until his death.
Hearings were slated to resume Wednesday with testimony from the Vancouver police officers called to the scene the day of the shooting.
The purpose of the inquest is to hear recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future.
The Independent Investigations Office cleared police of any wrongdoing in Rintoul’s death in February 2019.
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