Shooting witness alleges police fatally shot unarmed man without warning

Carrie Blaydon replays Dustin Hatcher's death over and over in her mind since he was shot by police. 

She cries constantly and still expects to hear her partner's voice at home, despite witnessing his death on Nov. 28.

"Why am I still here, and he's not? I was, like, inches away from him when he was shot," she told CBC News through tears on Monday.

She's demanding accountability after she alleges an officer opened fire on an unarmed man without warning.

"His smile lit up the room, his sense of humour," Blaydon said.

Hatcher, 39, was shot near Dalhousie Drive and Pembina Highway around 12:40 a.m., Manitoba's Independent Investigation Unit (IIU), which investigates serious incidents involving police officers in the province, said in a news release on Nov. 28.

First responders took him to Health Sciences Centre, where he died of his injuries.

Winnipeg police say the shooting happened after an officer was pinned by a vehicle that was attempting to flee a traffic stop. 

Blaydon, however, disputes the Winnipeg Police Service's account of events. 

She said she and Hatcher were parking in a back lane stall near her home when they were approached by two officers. She alleges officers did not give them a reason when telling them to get out of their truck.

Blaydon — who'd been driving a borrowed vehicle she said she later found out was stolen — got out, while Hatcher moved into the driver's seat, she said.

Hatcher was facing charges at the time of his death, including failing to comply with conditions of his release and theft under $5,000, court records say. He'd been planning to turn himself in after the holidays, Blaydon said.

She tried to help Hatcher take off by holding back one of the officers on the driver's side, she said, and a second officer moved to the passenger side.

"'He's trying to flee. He's trying to flee,'" Blaydon said the officer near her shouted.