A mentally ill man shot by police while holding a large two-by-four in 2014 seemed like he wanted to talk before suddenly becoming aggressive and charging two Vancouver police officers, one of the officers testified at a coroner's inquest Tuesday.
The shift in Tony Du’s behavior happened just after Const. Trevor Letourneau pulled out a bean bag shotgun from the trunk and ordered Du to put the two-by-four down, Letourneau said.
“His demeanour changed. His eyes were focused on me. He became a very different person than who I had witnessed moments before,” Letourneau said.
Letourneau was one of two officers responding to a 911 call about a man with a large piece of wood at 41st Avenue and Clark Street in November 2014.
The man, Tony Du, was schizophrenic, a gambling addict, and distressed, but one passerby who spoke with the man for several minutes told the coroners court he didn’t describe him as a threat, just someone who needed help.
After Du advanced on him, Letourneau fired a round into Du’s leg, but Du didn’t appear to be phased by it. Letourneau fired two more shots while his partner, Const. Peters, fired six rounds into the man.
Du dropped on the ground, and Letourneau testified he looked for blood on Du but didn’t see anything. The court heard previously that the man was wearing a thick winter jacket with garbage bags full of pillows or feathers.
Letourneau testified he asked Du: “Why?” Du responded, cryptically: “Family.”
The lawyer for Du’s family, Frances Mahon, asked Letourneau whether he could have found a way to de-escalate the situation, by either slowing down his approach or trying to strike up a rapport with Du.
Letourneau responded that as the “less lethal officer” on the pair in the police car that day, his job was to prepare himself to respond directly to the incident, while the “lethal officer” armed himself with deadly force.
A previous witness, Joe Tobias, told the court he stopped and stayed with Du for several minutes and Du wasn’t threatening him.
Letourneau was not charged in the investigation that followed the death. The Coroners Court is an attempt to find out what happened without laying blame.
Towards the end of his testimony, Letourneau spoke directly to the sister of Tony Du in the courtroom.
“I can’t even talk to my partner. So I can’t imagine how you’re doing. I hope these proceedings will help you in the ongoing process,” he said. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
