911 call made from Craig McDougall's phone before he was shot by police, inquest hears

Someone called 911 from Craig McDougall's cell phone reporting a stab wound the morning the 26-year-old was shot by police, an inquest heard Monday.

• Family of Craig McDougall hopes for answers as delayed inquest resumes

Craig McDougall, 26, was shot and killed by Winnipeg police officers on Aug. 2, 2008. The inquest into his death resumed on Monday after a three-month delay.

Court proceedings originally began in August, eight years after McDougall's death, but the inquest was put on hold after a witness's story changed.

Inquest resumes with 911 calls

The inquest began Monday with four 911 calls made the day McDougall died. The first call was placed at 4:34 a.m. on the morning of McDougall's death, and the last at 5:09 a.m., with a man reporting he had been stabbed.

Someone at the Simcoe Street home of Craig's father, Brian McDougall, made the first call to 911. Brian McDougall said in court it was not him.

On the call, a man is heard reporting two men trying to break into McDougall's home. The caller identifies the alleged home invaders as Craig McDougall and Trevor Monias.

The relevance of the second and third calls, from women reporting violence in the area near the house, is still not known.

The fourth call to 911 was an unknown male voice calling from Craig McDougall's cellphone reporting he had been stabbed at Brian McDougall's house.

Father testifies in inquest

Brian McDougall, 58, testified after the 911 calls were played. He confirmed his son was already at his Simcoe Street home when police arrived.

McDougall, an Indigenous elder, said he had difficultly hearing and understanding questions. His first language is Oji-Cree and no translation services were provided in the courtroom Monday. 

Brian McDougall also had trouble recalling the events of his son's death.

He said he remembered going to bed and then being woken up by his partner, who said she heard gunshots. He said he then remembers seeing the red lights from a police cruiser.

After looking to see what the commotion was, he remembered seeing his son, Craig, lying on the ground, and said he tried to run to him, but an officer grabbed him by the collar to stop him.

He was tackled to the ground by the officer, he said, who then put his knee on his neck.

'Is he all right, is he breathing?'

"I kept saying, 'Is he all right? Is he breathing?'" McDougall said. The father said no emergency workers were attending to his son.

McDougall said he was then handcuffed and taken to the Public Safety Building for questioning. He said no one informed him of his son's condition while he was at police headquarters until hours had passed.

Corey Shefman, the lawyer representing the McDougall family, expressed concern about the amount of time that passed between McDougall's death and the inquest. 

While questioning Brian McDougall, Shefman referred to the father's 2008 police statement to jog his memory.

After the court took a break for lunch, McDougall took the stand again and was questioned by the Crown. He was excused early due to health issues.

• McDougall inquest delayed after witness changes account of police shooting

Police and McDougall's family give different accounts of what happened before McDougall was fatally shot.

Police say McDougall was holding a knife that he refused to drop after multiple requests. Police said they fired a gun at him after a Taser didn't subdue him.

McDougall's family members say the 26-year-old was holding a cellphone, not a knife, and he was talking to his girlfriend at the time of the shooting.