The plainclothes police officer who shot and killed 17-year-old Jeffrey Reodica in 2004 told a coroner's inquest in Toronto Tuesday that he had no choice but to shoot the teenager.

Det. Const. Dan Belanger spent a gruelling day being cross-examined by lawyers of the family.

Jeffrey Reodica, 17, was shot and killed on May 21, 2004, by a police officer.
(Courtesy of the Reodica family)

Belanger testified that while he and his partner struggled on the ground trying to handcuff the teen, the 17-year-old managed to lift himself with one hand and pull a knife out with the other.

He told the inquest that Reodica swiped at him a number of times with the knife.

Reodica died on May 21, 2004, when he was shot three times in the back after two plainclothes police officers arrived on scene to break up a reported fight. Belanger has maintained he shot Reodica because the teen pulled a knife on him and his partner.

But at the inquest, lawyer Kiké Roach questioned whether it was even logistically possible that the slight, five-foot-three teen pulled a knife from his pocket while being pinned down by Belanger and his partner — who weighed over 200 pounds each.

"I don't know where he got his strength from," Belanger told the five-person jury.

Other witnesses at the inquest have testified they didn't see a knife in Reodica's hand before the shooting.

Rules of engagement

The lawyer also asked Belanger why he failed to follow standard rules of engagement.

Asked why he didn't yell out "Stop or I will shoot" before firing, Belanger responded that there was no time because his partner would have been stabbed by the knife Reodica was carrying.

Roach argued the detective had enough time to yell "Knife! Knife!" to his partner before shots were fired. 

Belanger countered that the lawyer was twisting his words.

The lawyer also criticized the detective for failing to call for backup sooner and for not turning on a red cherry light in his unmarked cruiser to identify himself as a police officer, since both officers were in plainclothes at the time.

The officer countered that it wouldn't have made a difference because people don't pay attention to the flashing light.

Belanger maintained throughout his testimony that he shot the teen because his life and his partner's were in jeopardy.

An independent review of the fatal shooting by Ontario's Special Investigations Unit cleared Belanger after determining that Reodica swiped at Belanger with a knife.

The inquest resumes Thursday.