Stony Plain RCMP knew they were dealing with an armed and dangerous man before a fatal call to Martin Ostopovich's house in February 2004 that ended with a police officer and Ostopovich dead, a fatality inquiry heard Monday.

Cpl. Jim Galloway

Officers had seized a number of weapons from his home two years earlier, and the week before the shooting their commanding officer told them to be careful around Ostopovich.

And the day of the deaths, his wife Wendy told police that a delusional Ostopovich said voices were telling him to kill someone.

The 41-year-old Ostopovich shot and killed Cpl. Jim Galloway, after the officer rammed his vehicle in an attempt to prevent him fleeing the home. Police returned fire, killing Ostopovich.

Ostopovich, who was hearing voices and believed there was a conspiracy against him, had 13 guns seized from his home two years earlier, after he threatened people and his concerned wife called police.

Testifying in the first day of the inquiry, Wendy Ostopovich said that her husband was hospitalized and given medication to control the voices, which began following a head injury suffered in a 1999 car accident.

However, Ostopovich only took his medication sporadically, his wife said, and no one would make sure he stayed on them. He didn't trust her, she added, so she couldn't influence him.

On Feb. 28, 2004, officers were called to Ostopovich's neighbourhood because someone reported what they thought was a bullet hole in a car window. It seemed to have been shot from Ostopovich's home, so officers knocked on his door.

Ostopovich eventually tried to leave, getting into his car and attempting to drive away. Galloway, 55, rammed the vehicle with an SUV to prevent him from leaving.

The inquiry heard that Ostopovich shot Galloway in the back as the officer left his vehicle to head for cover. A senior RCMP officer said the tactic of ramming the vehicle had been used successfully in other standoffs.

David Abbey, the lawyer representing the Ostopovich family, says the mental health system failed to provide adequate care for Ostopovich, which led to both men's deaths.

"I don't think the family is out to get back at anybody. I don't think they blame anybody specifically," Abbey said outside the inquiry. "I think they feel like they've been failed, in large part, by various different systems.

"The mental health system has taken some hits like everything else since 1992, and you can't break something like that and starve it and then pour money back in and expect it to rehabilitate itself."

The inquiry is expected to last two weeks.