Joshua Megeney wanted to call his mother moments before aiming rifle at cops, inquest hears

Joshua Megeney told police he wanted to make one last phone call to his mother, then he aimed a rifle at Saskatoon police officers and was shot, according to testimony Tuesday morning at an inquest into Megeney's death. 

A coroner's inquest jury is learning details this week about what led Const. Jesse Jackson and Const. Blake Atkinson of the Saskatoon Police Service to fire their carbine rifles at Megeney inside a home on Avenue Q N in October 2016. Megeney died of a bullet wound to the head, the inquest has heard. 

Police crossed paths with Megeney after investigating a reported break-in and encountering a man — later identified as Megeney — who had barricaded himself in a second-floor bedroom. 

Const. Jackson was Tuesday's first witness. The 34-year-old member of the force's tactical response unit said he volunteered to go to the scene as he thought it would be a good training opportunity.

Jackson and other officers cleared the house and established that Megeney — whose identity was not know to them at the time — was inside an upper-floor bedroom.

At first, police were told by the homeowner that guns were safely stored in a gun safe in the bedroom.

Police yelled at Megeney to come out of the room several times.

Two things then happened in close succession, according to Jackson: police received new information from the homeowner suggesting the gun safe could be easily breached with a hammer and officers rammed the door of the bedroom.

Jackson said the door was rammed to improve communication with Megeney. Jackson said there was no real "dialogue" with Megeney up to that point — just the occasional "mumbled" sounds, which were hard to make out, coming from the room. 

'One last call to my mother'

After the door was rammed, the senior officer on the scene, Sgt. Ken Kane, told Jackson to get his helmet. That's when Jackson heard other officers say, "Gun gun gun. He's got a gun," acccording to his testimony.

Back inside the house, Jackson positioned himself near the door of the bedroom alongside other officers. Atkinson ordered Megeney to put down the gun. Jackson said he then saw the silhouette of a man holding what looked like a rifle. 

Jackson remembers Megeney saying, "I want to make one last call to my mother," shortly before Jackson saw the shadow of a rifle scope pointed toward the officers.

Atkinson fired two rounds, causing Megeney to duck and disappear briefly before reappearing with the rifle, according to Jackson.

"He was pointing the gun at us, his head dropping toward the scope," Jackson said. 

Jackson said he then fired a round toward Megeney's chest.

Megeney's body was found and identified hours later, after a police robot went through the bedroom window.

Scott Spencer, the lawyer for Megeney's family, questioned why police didn't pull back once they heard there might be guns at play. 

Jackson said police believed ramming the door to establish better communication was the best option.

Police had no air horn or anything to amplify their voices, as the force's crisis negotiation unit was not on the scene. 

Asked by Spencer if officers could have got a phone to Megeney after he said he wanted to call his mother, Jackson replied, "There wasn't enough time."

'Highly charged'

Sgt. Kyla Hicks of Saskatoon Police's major crimes unit, which investigated the shooting, called the incident "highly charged" during testimony Monday during Day 1 of the inquest. 

Spencer questioned Hicks at length about the tests conducted after the shooting to simulate the officers' and Megeney's standing positions during the standoff, pointing out that the investigators did not use a rifle scope or officers of appropriate height during the tests.

Spencer went as far as to call the tests "ridiculous" and questioned whether officers would have been able to see Megeney from their vantage points.

Not about who did wrong: presiding coroner

Spencer also confirmed through his cross-examination that the police's crisis negotiation team was initially called in more than an hour into the standoff and that it ultimately never made contact with Megeney, partly because the home's land line had been cut. 

Bruce Wirth, the lawyer for the Saskatoon Police Service's, interjected at one point, saying Spencer's cross-examination of Hicks was full of "speculation."

That led to a caution from presiding coroner Alma Wiebe.

"It's not the purpose of an inquest to determine who did or did not do anything wrong," she said.

Coroner's inquests are not criminal proceedings but rather fact-finding processes that ask a jury of six civilians to conclude how and by what means a person died. The choices are suicide, homicide, accidental, natural causes or "undetermined."  

The coroner's jury can also make recommendations to prevent similar deaths.

The process is also meant to shed light on the circumstances of a person's death and bring to light any dangerous practices.

"I believe it is incumbent upon me to make sure they [Megeney's family] are satisfied with the process," Spencer responded. "It's appropriate to test the evidence to a reasonable extent."

Megeney's family, including his father, sat in the front row of the small courtroom Monday, taking in the grisly details.

Megeney had meth in his system and was confirmed dead hours after being shot. He was found with a rifle on his body, a box of ammunition in his back pocket and a chocolate bar in his right hand. 

It's unclear what led Megeney into the home that day.