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Some young people in a stolen vehicle with a 16-year-old First Nations girl who was shot and killed by police are expected to testify today at an inquest into the death.
Three of the four teens who were with Eishia Hudson in April 2020, when officers responded to a liquor store robbery and chased the stolen Jeep, are to provide their account of what happened.
The inquest, which started last week, has heard Eishia was driving the vehicle and that some people she was with went into a store, took bottles and cases of booze and threatened to stab a security guard.
It has already heard from several officers involved in the subsequent chase and shooting.
Const. Kyle Pradinuk testified that he fired two shots at Eishia, because he believed fellow officers could have been hit by the moving vehicle.
The inquest is examining whether the use of force was appropriate and if systemic racism played a role, because the robbery suspects were identified as Indigenous.
An agreed statement of facts presenting at the inquest says a store employee reported the theft to police and described the suspects as Indigenous youth between the ages of 15 and 18.
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Court heard two officers tried to pull the Jeep over in a residential area, and the vehicle made contact with or rammed their cruiser.
Police followed the vehicle through a shopping area in the southeast end of the city, and it sped off down a major road.
Officers set up a blockade at an intersection, where the Jeep jumped over a boulevard and crashed into a parked truck.
Pradinuk testified that he fired his gun as he believed the vehicle was moving toward other officers.
Cellphone video from a witness, repeatedly played in court, appears to show the Jeep backing away from officers.
The girl’s death sparked protests and calls for a public inquiry into police-related deaths of Indigenous people, after Manitoba’s police watchdog recommended Pradinuk not face criminal charges.
Inquests don’t assign blame, but Judge Margaret Wiebe can issue recommendations to help prevent similar deaths.
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