Matthew Dumas, in an undated family photo. (CBC)A veteran Winnipeg police constable cried on Tuesday as he told an inquest into the death of Matthew Dumas how he tried to help the teen breathe after he was shot by a police officer in 2005.

Neil Carrette, a 31-year veteran who retired shortly after the shooting, testified that he was thinking of tackling Dumas, as the young man "fixed angrily" on Const. Dennis Gburek, whose gun was drawn.

"It all happened so fast," he said.

Police had been pursuing Dumas, 18, as a suspect in a robbery. The inquest heard earlier he was cleared of involvement in the crime. The teen was carrying a screwdriver in a manner officers testified they found threatening. In earlier testimony, police and civilian witnesses said Dumas continued to approach officers despite repeated warnings and being pepper-sprayed.

Carrette said he was surprised Gburek, who fired the fatal shots, hadn't been stabbed in the eye or the neck. When Gburek pulled the trigger, Carrette said, Dumas was "right over top of him."

Carrette said he was at Dumas' side before he fell. He thought Dumas might still be armed with a screwdriver, so he helped to handcuff him.

Carrette said he saw blood and told Dumas not to move. Dumas struggled and was having trouble breathing, he said.

Carrette said he held his head back to keep his airway open and told him the ambulance was coming.

At one point, he testified, Dumas said "I can't breathe. Can you take my jacket off."

Carrette wept when he said he put his foot under Dumas's head so it "wouldn't be on the sidewalk."

While some officers testified the ambulance came moments after the shooting, Carrette said "it seemed like forever." He said he was worried the ambulance wouldn't be able to get through due to all the police cruiser cars in the area.

He looked away from Dumas for a few seconds, he testified, and when he looked again, Dumas had stopped breathing.

Then paramedics arrived and Carrette stepped back, he said.

'A terrible thing'

The soft-spoken retired constable said he's waited three years for the inquest. Dumas's death was "a terrible thing," and he still wishes things had turned out differently, he said.

"It is kind of a relief to finally get to it," he said after his testimony. "It's time to get on with my life, I guess."

He said he hoped the inquest would help Dumas's family come to terms with his death, "that they get some closure, that they realize that there were police trying to intervene before it got to that point."

An internal review of the shooting cleared police of wrongdoing. Two external reviews later confirmed those findings. An inquest is required under Manitoba law whenever someone dies in police custody.

The inquest will resume Thursday with testimony from an RCMP expert in the use of force. The proceedings are expected to wrap up this week.