19-year-old hugged friend and said 'I love you' before fatal police shooting, inquest hears
CBC
An inquest into the April 2018 death of 19-year-old Quinn MacDougall started Monday with the victim's father Keith MacDougall, his girlfriend Melanie Schronk, and his best friend from elementary school Michael Turner appearing as witnesses.
MacDougall was fatally shot during an interaction with Hamilton police after making several distraught 911 calls, reporting a man with a gun who he said was out to get him. He died in hospital after he was shot near his home, shortly after police arrived.
The teen's father, Keith MacDougall, said he and his son spoke both face-to-face and on the phone on the day of his death. MacDougall struggled to hold back tears as he read a statement on behalf of himself, his son's mother, stepfather and two sisters.
"He was a good son, brother, uncle and friend, and we miss him every single day," MacDougall said.
MacDougall said their first conversation the day Quinn died happened as he was picking up his daughter to go and help her paint a room to which she was moving.
"So, when I sat down for about 10 minutes, I sat across from him and I was needling him a bit about not paying lately for gas, for all the rides I had given him. I didn't particularly care about the money, but I was trying to make the point about self-sufficiency to him," MacDougall said.
"After the discussion, he stuck his arm up, smiled and said, 'Are we cool?' I said, of course we are, and he gave me a hug."
MacDougall said they spoke again around mid-afternoon, on the phone, and his son told him about "threats he received earlier on that day over Snapchat."
"He asked me what he should do about them. I advised him to call the police and to speak with his step dad, Dave, about the matter, and that I'd be back in a few hours to discuss it further," MacDougall said.
"This is just a brief snapshot of our son, Quinn, so you can understand him a little bit."
The Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Ontario's police watchdog, has cleared the police officers involved in the teen's death of any misconduct.
The SIU also reported that multiple witnesses came forward alleging that Quinn was armed with a knife at the time of the interaction, and that he lunged at the officers with it.
Schronk, who was the second witness to take the stand, said on the day of Quinn's death, she awoke to find "a few messages that were a bit concerning."
She said that in the Instagram messages "he was just talking about how he felt life was somewhat pointless and that he wanted to die."
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