Bush smirked during his arrest, coroner's inquest told

Last Updated: Tuesday, July 3, 2007 | 5:47 PM PT

CBC News

The coroner's inquest into the death of Ian Bush heard Tuesday that he gave a smirk when he was arrested in Houston, B.C., for having an open beer outside a hockey game and for giving a false name to an RCMP officer.

Auxiliary Const. Shane Ketchell, the first of the police witnesses to testify Tuesday morning, said the 22-year-old man behaved as if he was playing around with his buddies during the arrest in October 2005.

Ian Bush died in police custody on Oct. 29, 2005.
(CBC file)

Bush was shot in the back of the head while in the custody of Const. Paul Koester, following what the officer said was a fight for his life. The inquest into the shooting reconvened Tuesday in the small northern British Columbia town of Houston.

Ketchell said Bush's mood changed to anger in the detachment after he realized the seriousness of his arrest. But when he left the building later on, Ketchell said, leaving Bush and Koester alone, Bush appeared more relaxed, and there was no warning of a problem that would have caused him to stay at the detachment.

Minutes later, Ketchell said, he heard the call on the police radio that Koester had used lethal force.

Koester testified in May that he started to lose consciousness during a struggle with Bush and couldn't remember exactly where he and Bush were positioned when he fired his gun.

A dozen witnesses, including Bush's friends, who watched him being arrested, and RCMP officers, will provide further evidence of how and why Bush died.

The coroner's inquest continues until Friday.