An East Vancouver loss prevention officer and a Vancouver police officer testified Wednesday at the coroner’s inquest into the death of 38-year-old Daniel Peter Rintoul.
Vancouver police shot 38-year-old Daniel Peter Rintoul nine times after he stabbed a police officer in the parking lot of the Grandview Highway retailer in November 2016.
It was a day of different but similar descriptions of the events of the Nov. 10, 2016, incident.
The loss prevention officer described what he saw inside the store and the lead-up to when the first shots were fired.
Irfan Elahi told the corner’s inquest about Rintoul walking into the Canadian tire, using a can of bear spray, and assaulting employees behind the gun counter.
His testimony indicated he realized this was not a robbery but something much more serious when the suspect broke into the gun cabinet and tried to load weapons with ammunition.
He feared it could turn into a mass shooting event.
Elahi also explained how when Rintoul couldn’t manage to load any weapons, he then took a hostage and left the store.
A Vancouver police constable also testified on Wednesday.
When the first police officers arrived on the scene, Rintoul was already out on the parking deck.
Before VPD Const. Gary Li could even approach the suspect, whom he assumed was the person responsible for the call, he and his partner were attacked with bear spray.
Li said he fired his taser and his partner Justin Fraser tried to handcuff Rintoul. But the suspect continued to fight, stabbing Fraser several times.
Li testified he remembered feeling the effects of the bear spray and fearing for his life, and those around him, also knowing his partner had been wounded.
He then shot Rintoul. The record indicates he fired four shots.
Rintoul wasn’t incapacitated though according to Li. He was screaming for the officers to finish him off.
Fraser was pulled clear, but a police rifle lay on the ground, and Rintoul was still armed with a knife and bear spray.
That is when backup officers arrived and Rintoul was shot several more times.
Emotional testimony was heard on Wednesday as Li choked up remembering treating his partner for his stab wounds.
Li was forced to take more than a year off work, dealing with the trauma of his experience.
His partner, Justin Fraser, is expected to testify next week.