Prince George, B.C. – Testimony in the  inquest into the death of Greg Matters continues today  and may include a video of an interview between Corporal Ryan Arnold and Greg Matters.

 

The interview dates back to 2011, when Matters was arrested for threatening members of Crown Counsel at the Prince George Court House. Corporal Arnold would later be the Emergency Response Team leader when Matters was shot and killed in September of 2012.

Though Arnold was not present when Matters was shot, he was responsible for command decisions, Matters family lawyer, Cameron Ward said that is why the interview remained pertinent.

Referring to a transcript of the 2011 interview, some of what was said, seemed to foreshadow the events that would unfold nearly 15 months later.

 

In the 2011 interview, Corporal Arnold told Matters he didn’t want to be hiding in the bushes beside Pinko Road someday,  wondering what Greg Matters was going to do next. He also told Matters that police have a long memory and a data base where he would be flagged as someone who made threats to police for the rest of his days.

 

Though Matters’ demeanour was calm and rational, Arnold pointed out in the report and on the stand his emotions seem to change quickly, from eyes flooded with tears to calm again.

 

During the conversation Matters explained his post traumatic stress disorder, his military service in Bosnia and some of the events that lead to his mistrust of police.

 

In his assessment of Matters following the 2011 interview, Corporal  Arnold stated in the document he believed Matters would not intentionally harm any member of the RCMP or the Crown, however may be unpredictable if he felt he was being treated unjustly in the future.

Arnold also testified of the practical steps he took in his position as team leader for the ERT.

He was updated on what was happening at the Matters’ farm and told the ERT might be deployed. A call at 1 p.m. Sept. 10 confirmed other methods had been exhausted and the ERT would be used to make the arrest.

Other team members were notified, and technicians set up the command vehicle in a near-by field.

 

A surrender was supposed to ensue, but Matters aborted it when the helicopter showed up.

 

Members of the team were told to conceal themselves in the driveway near the vehicles in the hope Matters would be talked into a later surrender.

 

The importance of police dogs was also discussed. Two were on-hand, but the second was too far away to be of practical assistance if Matters needed to be tracked at some point, increasing the importance of the one at the scene. Corporal Arnold also testified   a police dog would be in danger of being attacked or killed if ordered to apprehend a person who had a sharp edge weapon, as was the case with Matters. Arnold said that would make it difficult to track and apprehend a suspect should they turn and flee the scene.

 

Arnold also discussed the dynamic and fluid nature of the team, saying members have to respond to a subject’s behaviour.

 

This tied in with his earlier testimony regarding what would happen if a subject refused to drop a knife. That, he said, would depend on what the subject did next.

 

Ward also asked how many of the ERT members were involved in police shootings. He was informed three members, Arnold, Merriman and Warwick .

 

Cst. Warwick is likely to take the stand later today.