Windsor police officer John Paul Karam testified he was bleeding profusely after being attacked by Matthew Mahoney on March 21, 2018.
Mahoney was shot and killed following a confrontation with Const. Karam and Const. Andre Marentette.
Karam was answering a call to service from a concerned citizen who reported Mahoney's behaviour that morning.
“It is not natural for somebody to be walking in the downtown core with a butcher block of knives making people feel uncomfortable,” he said.
When he confronted Mahoney, Karam told the inquest Mahoney was evasive and agitated. He recounted jockeying his vehicle on Dufferin Place to try and contain Mahoney at one point saying to him, “you need to stop and talk to me."
Karam testified Mahoney reacted by dropping the kitchen block of knives he had been carrying and “sprinting” towards Karam with a knife in his hand.
Peter Rampat, lead safety instructor at the Ontario Police College, told the inquest officers can use verbal and non-verbal communication to control and/or resolve the situation but added, "all of it hinges on the availability of time."
Social worker Rola Osman was in Marentette's car as a passenger and witnessed the interaction between Karam and Mahoney telling the inquest, "as soon as they talked, in seconds, the individual took out a knife and went at him, slashing at him."
Osman testified she was shocked at how fast the situation developed.
"It was seconds. He was trying to kill him. I thought he died or had been seriously injured,” Osman said.
“There was blood all over him. His hand was pouring blood.”
Osman told the inquest Mahoney turned and had an angry look on his face after Marentette's first of four shots that fatally wounded Mahoney.
Const. Karam said he holstered his weapon after the knife was taken out of Mahoney’s hand and radioed a shot had been fired.
It was at that moment, with his right arm raised high to activate his radio, he felt a watery sensation, blood trickling down his right arm. He realized his right hand had been deeply cut.
Karam said he was in the hospital for up to seven hours receiving sixteen stitches. He received his gear after the SIU investigation was complete and remarked Mahoney would have penetrated his chest had it not been for his vest.
Marentette testified Tuesday that he believed Mahoney’s intent was ‘suicide by police after he and Karam both heard Mahoney say, “thank you” while falling to the ground after being shot.
Karam told the inquest officers are trained to meet force with force saying, "In hindsight, the appropriate use of force at that point would have been my pistol, not a less lethal option."
Rampat, who was the last speaker of the day, explained to the inquest that officers are, “responsible for every round that leaves their firearm, “If they miss the hand. If they miss the leg or they miss the arm it could hit an innocent member of the public in the background.”
The inquest resumes Thursday with Mahoney’s family expected to testify.
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