SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
A couple living on Glick Court were sitting in their living room, watching the evening news on March 14, 2012 when three bullets were fired into their home.
The rounds were shot by police officers attempting to take down a suicidal Karen Lander, who came out of a neighbouring house with an unloaded Winchester 1906 .22-calibre pump action rifle after barricading herself inside the home for about four hours.
The three officers shot up to 13 rounds, four of which hit Lander, according to investigators. One of the bullets came through the couple's kitchen and landed in a bedroom. Another flew into the living room and hit a bookcase, while the third passed under the front bay window and into a coffee table.
Two other bullets hit the exterior of the home but travelled no further, according to Kramer Powley of the National Forensic Services in Regina.
Powley testified Monday at the coroner's inquest into Lander's death, which started Feb. 25 at the Yellowknife Inn. The purpose of the inquest is for the jury to make recommendations that may prevent similar deaths in the future.
The owner of the house hit by the barrage of bullets said although she was aware of the police presence that day, the officers never told her or her husband what was going on or indicated the seriousness of the situation.
"We thought that people should know what was happening on the cul de sac. I mean if it started at 1:30, 2 o'clock and didn't end until 6:30 p.m. or whatever ,they had plenty of time to let us all know," said the homeowner, who asked not to be named.
According to RCMP Insp. David Elliott, who was in charge of the Yellowknife detachment at the time, two police officers were put in charge of contacting the residents of the court after Lander told a police negotiator that she planned to come out of the house with a gun.
The officers, he continued, weren't able to reach four of the houses. Those they did reach were told to stay in their homes.
However, on the first day of the inquest, third-party investigator Staff Sgt. Brent Secondiak, of Medicine Hat Police Services, testified that the officers should have evacuated the nearby residences.
Elliott said there was a discussion about evacuating residents in the area but due to limited resources they decided it was safer to keep the residents inside.
The inquest is expected to wrap up today with the jury recommendations likely being released later in the evening.
