Officer says Michel Vienneau was driving toward another officer when shots fired
A Bathurst police officer testified Wednesday that she had one of the best views of what unfolded when her colleague shot and killed Michel Vienneau at the train station in 2015.
Const. Julie Daigle testified she saw the car driven by Vienneau driving "purposely" toward Const. Patrick Bulger.
Daigle was among the officers at the station to investigate a tip Vienneau was bringing a "load of drugs" back from Montreal on the train. The tips turned out to be false.
The Bathurst police chief has recommended constables Mathieu Boudreau and Bulger be fired for their conduct around the Jan. 12, 2015, shooting. An arbitrator will decide what discipline they may face after hearing the testimony.
Daigle was a member of the Bathurst general investigation section on the day of the shooting when Boudreau came to the unit's office seeking help for an operation at the train station.
She parked in a residential driveway across Thornton Avenue from the train station.
That's where Vienneau's car was parked, and Boudreau and Bulger had parked waiting for him to arrive. She said Bulger told the various officers parked around the area over a police radio about a plan to intercept Vienneau.
She testified she saw Vienneau's white Chevrolet Cruze back up to leave the station's parking lot. She recounted seeing the unmarked Pontiac G6 driven by Boudreau move to block it, and then Boudreau and Bulger getting out.
She said she saw Bulger running to get away from the car.
"The vehicle was not stopping, the vehicle was going straight toward Bugler … and Boudreau used his firearm to stop the vehicle," she said.
She testified that Boudreau ran up to the Cruze on the driver's side and fired two or three times.
It all unfolded over what she estimated was 20 seconds. She went up to the Cruze and saw the driver, Vienneau, was injured. After calling for medics, said she told the passenger Annick Basque "police, police."
Basque "asked if they were real police officer," and Daigle testified she told her yes. Basque testified last week she didn't think they were real officers and wondered if it was a terrorist attack.
Daigle testified she also saw Bulger limping at the scene of the crash. She said under cross-examination that she went with Bulger to the hospital "to get his injury checked out."
Several witnesses have testified seeing Bulger slip and fall around the Cruze around the time of the shooting. Multiple police witnesses have also testified about seeing Bulger limping.
No medical records or evidence of an injury have been discussed during the hearing. Lawyers for the officers have repeatedly said Vienneau "ran over" Bulger, though no one has said they saw Bulger under the vehicle.
Daigle's testimony on the sixth day of the hearing took up several hours Wednesday before Jeff Chiasson, also a member of the Bathurst Police Force, began testifying.
Boudreau and Bulger are alleged to have breached five counts of the New Brunswick Police Act: they didn't properly use and carry a firearm, they abused authority, neglected their duty and acted in a discreditable manner. They deny the allegations.
Testimony on Tuesday revealed that an RCMP report and an attached use of force analysis called the shooting justified.
Basile Chiasson, the lawyer for the police chief, said Wednesday that Daigle and Jeff Chiasson would be his final two witnesses. He said he doesn't plan to call Bulger or Boudreau to testify.
So far, 11 of the 17 witnesses Chiasson said would testify have done so before arbitrator Joël Michaud.
The hearing began last Wednesday and is scheduled to continue until Oct. 25.
The officers are suspended with pay from the force.
