Jayda Taylor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Editor’s note: This story contains description of a fatal police shooting and mentions of suicide.
An inquest this week is unraveling the details surrounding a man’s death after being shot by RCMP officers on Montreal Lake Cree Nation.
Dillon McDonald’s father, Dirk McDonald, testified on Monday. He described his son as “full of love,” and that the inquest was flooding him with “lots of emotions.”
Dillon was 28 years old when he died on Dec. 14, 2021.
The inquest heard that Dillon had just been released from custody and breached court-ordered conditions by sneaking past a security checkpoint on to Montreal Lake Cree Nation. He then went to his father’s house.
Dirk described that Dillon was crying when he entered the living room and appeared to be hallucinating, talking to someone who wasn’t there.
“I’d never seen him in that state before,” he said. “That’s what scared me, you know, the most.”
Dirk noted seeing toilet paper, a lighter, and knives on the floor, along with a partially drank bottle of whiskey on the table.
He also described Dillon pulling a gun out of his sweater.
After giving his son a hug and a kiss on the cheek, Dirk left and reported the incident to Montreal Lake’s security services.
“I regret not going on Facebook,” said Dirk, describing how he didn’t anticipate everything that unfolded.
People nearby posted videos of the incident to social media. Those videos were included during questioning with Sgt. Wes Peters with the Saskatoon Police Service, who led the investigation.
The Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) was not established yet.
Police secured the scene and tried to negotiate with Dillon through a loud hailer.
“He’s not cooperative, he’s very upset, he’s screaming,” said Peters. “There was absolutely no cooperation at that time.”
With smoke billowing out of the windows, Dillon came out of the front door and on to the rise at the top of the steps. When he wouldn’t comply, three officers fired at Dillon, with two bullets hitting him in the stomach area.
“Commands from police were ‘Don’t touch the gun, don’t touch the gun,’” explained Peters, adding that Dillon had fallen on top of the weapon.
Since he still had access to it, a K9 dog pulled Dillon down the stairs. He died on the way to hospital in Prince Albert.
Peters said the gun was not loaded.
‘That’s my suicide right there’
When asked if anything could have been done differently to prevent Dillon’s death, Peters said the RCMP acted appropriately with the information they had in the moment.
However, he said the safest place for Dillon was in custody.
“I would suggest that there were some underlying issues that Dillon was dealing with,” he said, pointing to evidence suggesting that Dillon was considering suicide by cop.
The inquest listened to a recording of a phone call from 2020 between Dillon and his brother.
“I’m going to go out bucking with the cops,” said Dillon. “That’s my suicide right there, as long as I get one of them out first, you know.”
As part of their investigation, Peters said police also looked into Dillon’s social media activity.
The day before the shooting, Dillon made a post on Facebook that ended with “I’m ready to die, Lord, and I hope I go to Heaven.”
The post also said “You’re going to have to body me this time,” which Peters said could be referencing a previous incident.
The previous September, police found Dillon unconscious in the cemetery with a loaded gun.
Dirk said his son had been struggling to grieve the loss of his mother and the sudden death of his brother just a month prior to the shooting.
An inquest is not a criminal proceeding. It outlines the circumstances of someone’s death in order to prevent similar deaths in the future.
The six jury members may make recommendations to the appropriate agencies once testimonies are complete.
The inquest continues on Tuesday.
