Hamilton officer recalls deploying Taser as shot were being fired at Quinn MacDougall
CBC
A Hamilton police officer cried as she described Monday what transpired the moments after 19-year-old Quinn MacDougall was fatally shot outside his townhouse complex in April, 2018.
Const. Brittany Gingrich deployed her Taser at the same time shots were fired, she recalled, during the ongoing inquest into MacDougall's death.
Police said MacDougall was armed with a knife. Gingrich said she felt it was important to disarm the teenager because, "if we didn't, there could be significant harm or death to one of the officers."
"It was the less-lethal option to hopefully get him to drop the knife so that we were able to take control of Mr. MacDougall," Gingrich said.
MacDougall was fatally shot during an interaction with Hamilton police after making several distraught 911 calls, reporting a man with a gun who he said was out to get him. He died in hospital after he was shot near his home, shortly after police arrived.
In April, 2019, Ontario's police watchdog cleared Hamilton police of any wrongdoing in MacDougall's death. In a lengthy report, the director of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said the two police officers who shot MacDougall did so within the bounds of the law.
Gingrich said Monday that actions unfolded "extremely quickly … less than a minute," and there was no time to "de-escalate and to give direction."
Gingrich said she heard three gunshots, but did not know who was discharging their firearm. She then heard a male voice behind her saying "shots fired."
When she saw that MacDougall had been hurt, Gingrich said her first response was to "administer first aid."
"I recall he dropped the knife and fell to the ground and … we have medical bags in the trunk of the car, so I ran to grab the medical bag," Gingrich said.
She said she and another officer "tried to stop the bleeding, try and find out where he was bleeding and to put pressure on it."
Gingrich said she was "sprinting" between the spot where MacDougall was on the ground, and the parked police cruisers to get a second medical bag.
"I wanted more gauze. I couldn't find gauze in my first bag," she said.
Gingrich, who had only been with the Hamilton Police Service for one year at the time of MacDougall's death, said the incident had an impact on her.
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