Inquest into fatal Winnipeg police shooting of Indigenous teen hears from youth in stolen vehicle

One of the youths in a Jeep with a 16-year-old girl fleeing from police when officers fatally shot her says the whole incident was a blur and he didn’t even realize at the time she had been harmed.

The youth, who was under 18 at the time and cannot be identified, said he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time and couldn’t remember many details. 

His testimony came Tuesday in the second week of an inquest into the death of Eishia Hudson, who died in 2020 in a chase involving Winnipeg police.

The teen told the inquest that Eishia panicked when she realized police officers were following the Jeep after a liquor store robbery. 

The inquest has heard Eishia was driving the vehicle and that some people she was with went into a store, took bottles and cases of liquor, and threatened to stab a security guard.

“She just started to panic after that,” he said, in court, after she “took flight right away.”

The youth said he remembers crashing into a parked truck and waking up at the police station, where his lawyer told him Eishia had died. 

Meanwhile, a second youth also said everyone in the car was scared they “would be locked up” as a result of the chase. 

He claims it was a police cruiser coming in contact with the Jeep on Lagimodiere Blvd. that caused it to lose control and crash into a truck near the Fermor Avenue intersection, saying when officers pulled Hudson from the Jeep, handcuffing her, he felt it was clear she was in distress, bleeding from her chest and mouth.

The third youth who testified agreed that the people inside the truck were scared during the chase, saying Hudson said out loud, “We’re done, we gotta’ stop,” after colliding with the truck, saying right after, she heard two shots.

She claims all of them, except Eishia, were pulled from the car at first, with Hudson then being placed on the road and handcuffed, saying that while she saw emergency efforts underway, when an officer “took a blanket and covered her.” She realized something was “really wrong,” breaking down into tears on the stand.

All three of the youth say they feel Hudson didn’t have to die, the third saying, “There’s so many things that could have been done that day.” 

The inquest has already heard from several officers involved in the subsequent chase and shooting.

Police Const. Kyle Pradinuk testified he fired two shots at Eishia because he believed fellow officers could have been hit by the moving Jeep. 

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 presented 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.

Court heard two officers tried to pull over the Jeep 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 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.

-With files from the Canadian Press.