Inquest into fatal 2022 police shooting of Sask. man ends with no closure: father

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The loved ones of 26-year-old Ryan Booker say they're left disappointed after a six-person jury at an inquest into his death, following a 2022 police shooting, made no recommendations.

On Wednesday, the final day of the three-day coroner's inquest, the jury deemed his death a suicide.

Booker died on Highway 1, near Belle Plaine, Sask. — between Moose Jaw and Regina — after a six-hour standoff with police on July 17, 2022.

At the time, RCMP said they received a report around 1 a.m. about a man who was sitting in his car and making threats toward his partner. The man then drove from a Superstore parking lot in Moose Jaw, where his partner's car had been parked, and pulled over on the highway near Belle Plaine, RCMP said.

A Regina police SWAT team and RCMP critical incident response team were called in, and RCMP said crisis negotiators tried to de-escalate the situation.

Around 7 a.m., the man pointed his gun at officers and did not comply with multiple commands from officers, who fatally shot him, an RCMP news release said.

The coroner's inquest into the death began on Monday. Such inquests are not criminal proceedings and do not result in criminal charges. Juries are asked to determine the facts of the death and make recommendations to help prevent similar incidents in the future.

In this case, the jury did not make any recommendations.

Police who testified at the inquest Wednesday said the situation left them little choice but to use lethal force, painting a picture of a scenario that is sometimes referred to as "suicide by cop."

Const. Jay Sills, a Moose Jaw Police Service officer who was in contact with Booker during the standoff, testified Tuesday that Booker "talked about suicide for a long time," but "he didn't feel like he was capable of doing it himself, so he wanted to get the police to do it for him."

But Booker's father says much of the testimony painted Booker with "a tarnished brush," and the jury never truly got to see his son. 

"My son wasn't the person they made him out to be," said Bary Nosal. He described his only son as a great kid, who had the ability to make people laugh from the time he was three years old.

"I wanted to show the jurors a picture of him, because they've all got a picture of everyone has a picture of a drug addict," he said. "He was a great dad."