Officer testifies about shooting death

A coroners inquest into the police shooting death of a young Saskatchewan man has heard from one of the two officers first on the scene where the death occurred.

Chase McKay, 21, died on June 14, 2008, at a home on the White Bear First Nation, near Carlyle, Sask., about 200 kilometres southeast of Regina.

McKay was also known as Chase Standingready. The official announcement of the inquest provided his full name as Kenneth Chase Wilfred Standingready-McKay.

Monday markedthe first day of testimony at the inquest into the police-involved fatality.

Const. Chris Hanson and his partner, Const. Glenn Walter, were called to a home on the reserve at around 6 a.m. local time for a report of a domestic dispute.

Walter testified on Monday that when they arrived, a woman told them McKay was upstairs and wielding a knife.

Walter said he went back outside and witnessed McKay leave out the homes rear door.

Walter said he saw Hanson chase after McKay, but he lost sight of them as they rushed up a tree-lined path. He said he eventually caught up to them, and when he did, he saw McKay facing Hanson and holding a knife.

Walter testified that Hanson repeatedly told McKay to drop the knife. When he didnt, Hanson fired two shots in rapid succession.

Walter said by the time Walter got to McKays body, the young man had stopped breathing and had no pulse.

The inquest into McKays death is scheduled for five days and is taking place at the town hall in Carlyle.