Day one of a fatailty inquiry into the deaths of Shawn Rehn and Const. David Wynn revealed evidence the RCMP attempted to peacefully get Rehn to surrender after the career criminal shot Wynn.
Testimony related by two witnesses Wednesday morning at the St. Albert courthouse described the circumstances around Wynn's death and the ensuing police standoff before Rehn's suicide.
Wynn and Auxiliary Const. Derek Bond, as well as another constable, were in the parking lot of St. Albert's Apex Casino in the early hours of Jan. 17, 2015, when they noticed a stolen truck. Wynn and Bond went into the casino to try to locate the vehicle's driver, according to facts read out in court Wednesday.
After a short search, Bond, Wynn and Rehn – the driver of the stolen truck – ended up near the front desk together.Rehn fled through the casino with Wynn and Bond in pursuit. The duo caught Rehn, and after a brief struggle Rehn shot Bond in the torso and arm. He shot Wynn at close range in the head.
Wynn, 42, died Jan. 21 of the gunshot wound; Bond survived.
As other customers at the casino rushed to the aid of Bond and Wynn, Rehn fled the premises and took off in the stolen truck. The third constable, who was waiting in the parking lot, pursued the stolen truck, but ended up stuck in the ditch because of icy and snowy road conditions.
Rehn only made it a short distance further before his vehicle also veered off the road and became stuck. He continued to flee the police on foot.
The RCMP brought in dogs to track the shooter and chased him to a house around one kilometre away.
Rehn broke into the house in a rural area east of St. Albert, whose occupants were away on vacation.
The RCMP arrived and surrounded the house and attempted to get Rehn to come out and surrender.
Then-ASIRT (Alberta Serious Incident Response Team) investigator Sgt. Ken Bruns testified their investigation determined that the RCMP surrounded the home from around 3 a.m. until after 11 a.m., before Rehn died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The RCMP surrounded the house for hours attempting to end the situation with a “successful safe conclusion.”
“A peaceful surrender was the goal,” Bruns said, noting the eight hours they spent trying to get Rehn to surrender.
Officers sent in a mechanical device with a camera to help visually check the home to ensure there were no other occupants at the time and to clear the area before they physically entered the home. The officers were also using the loudspeaker to get Rehn to come out and surrender peacefully.
Bruns said the officers made several attempts to find the owners of the home to make sure they were safe.
After breaking a window in the basement from the outside and moving the blinds to help clear the home, the officers heard a loud bang.
Officers looked in the second basement window and saw Rehn, 34, through a reflection in a mirror, laying on his back on the floor next to the bed.
The RCMP then sent a team into the home through the front door to ensure nobody else was in the home. They found Rehn in the basement with a gunshot wound to the head with a black handgun still in his hand.
An officer pushed the gun out of his hand with his foot to ensure the safety of the officers.
Bruns testified the RCMP did not fire any shots on the scene before Rehn’s death.
Bruns said it was “physically impossible” that the RCMP “could have fired a bullet in that manner" that killed Rehn.
Mitchell Weinberg, a forensic pathologist and Assistant Chief Medical Examiner for the province of Alberta, testified the RCMP account of the incidents at the scene was consistent with his findings when examining the bodies postmortem.
Weinberg testified Rehn died of his own self-inflicted gunshot wound and “the notion that it could have been anybody else that fired the weapon is completely inconsistent” with his findings.
The evidence Weinberg found on Rehn’s body showed the gun was “basically pressed against the skin or extremely close to it,” when the shot was fired.
A toxicology report done on Rehn found that he had cocaine and a “pretty high level of methamphetamine” in his system at the time of his death, but that did not contribute to the medical reason for his death.
Rehn likely died instantaneously or possibly moments after shooting himself, Weinberg said, noting the severity of his wound.
The fatality inquiry is slated to continue Wednesday afternoon and is predicted to wrap up Thursday at noon.
The inquiry will examine the cirumstances that led to Rehn being granted bail, the changes to the bail system since the incident, the interaction of Rehn and Wynn at the casino and the police protocol during the situation.
At the time of the incident, Rehn was wanted on 29 charges stemming from four different incidents. He was wanted on charges of possession of stolen property, including a motorcycle, possession of a weapon, possession of marijuana, escaping from custody and failing to comply.
