Inquiry hears same stories

Page 1

Two men who were in Carney Nerland's gun shop the evening he shot Native trapper Leo LaChance testified they feared for their lives during the incident.

Gar Brownbridge, a youth worker, and Russell Yungwirth, a former jail guard, took the stand Tuesday at the public hearings into LaChance's death.

Their stories and reactions to the shooting of the 48-year-old Native trapper differed considerably but both described the shooting as having had a negative impact

on their lives.

Yungwirth has suffered from a stress-related condition that has kept him from working at the Prince Alberta Correctional Centre since the shooting.

In an outburst, Brownbridge said".....no one knows or cares what Russ and I went through...I didn't want to think (Carney) Nerland could have shot him."

Brownbridge's voice shook with emotion at times as he tried to explain to the three-member commission what he believed happened on January 28, 1991.

Brownbridge and Yungwirth were having a couple of drinks with Nerland and talking about the Gulf War and weapons when LaChance entered the store, he said.

LaChance said he had a .303 rifle to sell. Two shots were fired into the floor by Nerland, who never spoke to LaChance, Brownbridge said.

Brownbridge testified he was frightened by the shots and feared he might be shot but he said he didn't believe LaChance was frightened.

"He had sort of a disgusted look on his face," Brownbridge said of LaChance, who made a kind of pushing away movement with his arm, then and just as he left the store.

"It was click, bang," Brownbridge said, describing how the third shot was fired simultaneously as the door closed behind LaChance.

Yungwirth had a different version, saying that Nerland talked to LaChance about the .303.

Yungwirth said one shot was fired into the floor but LaChance still looked at items in the store and talked to Nerland about the ..

Both witnesses agreed the fatal shot was fired when LaChance was outside the shop.

Yungwirth said he wasn't concerned anyone was hit because "Milt just starting cleaning up....I thought at best it was a blank, that he was just trying to scare the hell out of us."

Brownbridge explained he had been shot. He just wanted to get away from the situation.

Neither man looked to see if LaChance had been shot. Neither noticed any activity or particularly looked, as they left the shop afterwards, to go to Canadian Tire.

Nerland was concerned with his own well-being, his business and family but not with LaChance, Yungwirth testified.

The two said they didn't know LaChance was wounded until they heard it on the radio the next day.

Twenty hours after the shooting they spoke to police, telling the same stories they told the public inquiry Tuesday. They were unaware Nerland had told Police Yungwirth or Brownbridge had shot LaChance.

Inquiry lawyer Morris Bodnar challenged the version of events put forward by shooting witnesses. He accused Yungwirth, Brownbridge and Nerland of concocting

their evidence in the store after LaChance had been shot.

Bodnar also questioned Yungwirth's actions following the shooting. Although Yungwirth testified that he left the store with Brownbridge and Nerland minutes after the shooting, he said he didn't notice LaChance, who lay bleeding on the sidewalk only a few metres away.

"Surely you would know that there was a problem and that the problem in all likelihood arose from the shooting in that gun shop?" he asked.

The hearings continue.