Sawyer Robison was unarmed, with both wrists pinned by RCMP officers, when Const. Sheldon Shah heard the racking of a gun, a Wetaskiwin courtroom heard Monday.
“It sounded like a cabinet, like some type of clicking noise, something being opened,” Shah testified. “Then I heard the unmistakable sound of a gun being racked.”
Shah and Const. Sidney Gaudette were shot and wounded on Feb. 7, 2012, while trying to execute a search warrant at a home near Killam, owned by Robison’s uncle, Brad Clarke.
Robison, 30, has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, assault causing bodily harm and several weapons-related charges.
“What is your reaction when you hear that sound?” Robison’s lawyer, Brian Beresh, asked Shah during his cross-examination of the 37-year-old officer.
“I tell Const. Gaudette there’s a gun and then I see a muzzle coming around that corner.”
As Robison wrestled free of the officers and ran to another part of the house, gunfire filled the home.
“Brad Clarke basically appeared in front of me and started firing,” Shah said.
“Then there’s a continuous volley of gun discharge,” Beresh said. “Is that right?”
Shah replied, “Yes.”
“And after that, there are no further shots fired?” Beresh asked.
“Not that I remember,” Shah said.
Since the shooting, Shah said he has lived with constant pain, 11 scars marking his body from his neck to his knee.
Clarke was later found dead inside the home. It is believed he committed suicide.
The trial is in its second week and is scheduled to last until the end of the month.
