* Day 49: Monday, September 30         * Day 52: Thursday, October 3
   * Day 50: Tuesday, October 1           * Day 53: Friday, October 4
   * Day 51: Wednesday, October 2

Abbreviations used in notes:

DC = Don Campbell (Defense)
SF = Shelagh Franklin (Defense)
GW = George Wool (Defense)
ST = Sheldon Tate (Defense)
MA = Manuel Azevedo (Defense)
HR = Harry Rankin (Defense)

LB = Lance Bernard (Crown)
JF = Jennifer Fawcus (Crown)

J = Judge

No further questions for Captain Blanc.

JF - Next witness (#46): Cst. Dan Lafond (DL) - Nine years on force, now in Ottawa. In 1995 he was stationed in Vancouver - member of Vancouver ERT for four years. Aug. 27, he went to Kamloops where he had a briefing and then went to 100 Mile House. Tasks to Sept. 11 were mostly site security.

On Sept. 11, he took over position at Percy's lease. He and Vancouver HQ ERT were attached to Red Bison. They started Sunday morning. Stayed night in bush and took over lease on morning of 11th. He had been told that red pickup was occupied by two armed natives that had been involved in previous shootings. Plan was to wait by spot where pickup went by and to disable it when it went by. He was in Red Bison and was assigned to intercept truck should it not be disabled.

He heard explosion. DL says he and Cst. Arseneault were the only members in Red Bison at time of explosion. Following explosion, Bison went north on 1000 Road. There were two army drivers up front, two Chilliwack ERT, two EDU members and he and Arseneault. Total of eight. Two Chilliwack members were standing out of the only open hatches - the two small rear ones. He couldn't see anything. He felt a big bang. Door dropped. He and Arseneault exited Bison and checked out pickup. The smoke and dust had cleared a bit. He approached driver's side and saw truck was empty. He saw two long barrel rifles standing up, leaning on dashboard, slightly right of transmission bump. He never touched or moved rifles. He returned to APC and radioed findings to rest of team.

He got back inside Bison. Heard on radio that there was a blue Corsica coming their way so they were to intercept it. Two Chilliwack ERT members were still standing, exposed from the chest upwards. They drove around. Then started feeling some rounds hitting the APC. He doesn't know where they were driving. He could hear rounds hitting, but couldn't tell where on the Bison. Sounded almost like someone hitting metal with a hammer. At one point, he heard a series of hits which made him believe it was an automatic rifle. He isn't aware of any members in his Bison firing during this.

When rounds hit APC, Chilliwack members were still standing in hatches. They came down pretty quick. Bison was moving when he heard the rounds. Chilliwack members may have fired a few rounds, but he's not sure. He can see nothing during this time. They were then driving around. He says that at one point, he understood that they were pursuing one of the natives called Wolverine. HR objects to hearsay as DL admits this is only what he was told.

Next thing he knew, the Bison lost its steering and was disabled. He could still hear rounds hitting the APC. The same kind of fire as before. A number of rounds were hitting the rear door. At this point, all the hatches were closed. Says that the hatches were closed as soon as they could hear rounds hitting APC.

They then radioed for help and discussed what they would do if they had to abandon APC. They would disable the radios. The Green APC arrived, but he didn't hear it arrive. Over the radio, he heard the two Bisons would be backed to each other and those in the Red would go to the Green. He didn't think this was a good plan because they would be exposed. The driver counted down. The hatches were dropped. The members in Red backed off and didn't want to go. "But I didn't want to stay, I didn't want to die, so I went." He ran the ten feet quickly. "It didn't take me long." Says during this, he was under great stress so can't say whether he was being shot at.

Within seconds of the ramp being dropped he said to the other guys, "Come on guys let's go", but they didn't want to. He didn't want to stick around to tell the guys why it was a good idea so he just went for it.

The ramps went up since the guys didn't think it was a good idea. The next idea was to tow the Red APC out of there. Now his job was to provide covering fire. His arc of cover was from front of APC to 45 degrees to the side. He is aiming for edge of the woods where the "enemy" might be. He didn't see anyone. His head and arms were exposed. Other ERT members in Green were also firing. He was shooting RCMP M-16. He stopped firing after hookup was completed and the members had come back in.

He recalls throwing a few smoke grenades to "hide themselves." He threw them to front and sides. There was forest to right, the lake behind him. Following the drive out of there, he was dropped off on the road and then taken back to the Detachment.

From Sept. 11 to 17, he was engaged in same site security. On the 17th, he was involved in "surrender". When the van carrying the natives would come, he would be there. Then he would get in the back of the van for the ride. This took place somewhere on Tiger. Person in van was Marlowe Sam. His job was to escort natives to police Suburbans and then escort natives in Suburbans to helicopter. He then handed over natives to other RCMP. He didn't search people.

In his Suburban, there were three other ERT members from his team. There was a second Suburban with four ERT members as well.

HR - DL understood plan of Sept. 11 was to arrest the people in the truck. The ramming of the truck was the backup plan should the data sheet not disable it. It didn't matter what the intention of the truck was - whether it was going for water or whatever. He says all the RCMP there were aware of this plan, including the army personnel.

He reiterates the people in the Red Bison. There was no dog handler in his Bison. Clarifies that EDU were RCMP. He never saw a dog get out of his APC. He never saw dog come out of truck, though he heard later about dog getting killed. He says that he heard that there were two occupants that were probably native.

He couldn't tell where he was heading during ride. He never saw the blue car, the people in the lake or any people firing at him. He says that he could tell Bison was being hit. He was aware that the Bison could withstand a certain calibre of rifle as long as the bullets weren't armour piercing. HR asks about his security. DL: "Are you asking if I was comfortable?" Laughter. He admits he felt fairly secure as long as armour piercing bullets weren't used.

DL says that he never stuck his head out of the APC during the chase. He doesn't know how fast vehicle was going. DL agrees that Bison is designed to be a taxi. HR suggests that the Bison isn't designed to cut through trees, but DL doesn't know what the Bison is designed to do.

DL assisted in getting the tow bar off the Green APC. Explains that he helped pass it out the combat door and then gave cover fire.

Fired between 300-400 rounds. He didn't fire army rifle. Kamloops ERT team leader did though. DL fired all his 100 rounds and then had to use army ammo. Says that Bison had about 2,000 army rounds.

DL says that he would first stick his rifle up out of the carrier alone and fire a few rounds. Then he would stick his head up and finish firing his magazine. Then he would duck down and reload "because I didn't want a bullet in my forehead."

HR suggests that DL "thinks that people maybe" were firing at him. DL: "I didn't want to get shot just so I would know for sure." He looked at the Bison later and saw some marks, but can't say how many hits he saw.

ST - DL admits that to a certain point he was scared, and was firing at no specific target. He agrees that an unarmed person caught in his cone of fire would be in danger. DL says that from where he was shooting, the camp was somewhere in front of him and probably in his arc of fire. Believes that the M-16 is lethal up to 1,000 metres away. He doesn't know how far the camp was from his location. He had viewed the Wescam video before and knew the camp was somewhere out there. He knew that the camp was probably within that lethal range. DL thinks that most of the bullets went into the ground. He can't say for sure that none of the bullets went into the camp, but doesn't think any did. He knew women and children were in the camp.

DL says he was giving cover fire because he had heard shots hit the Bison earlier. He heard from the Wescam that there was a sniper at the one o'clock position. ST says that he can't find that Wescam transmission in any of the logs. DL is pretty sure that a sniper report came from Wescam. ST wonders why he doesn't know. ST also wonders about DL's earlier testimony of calling in the red truck's emptiness back at the APC. DL admits that he isn't sure if he called in the report at the red truck or in the Bison. DL says that he was using the ERT radio and believes that Wescam had a channel on the ERT radio too.

He isn't sure of the time interval between the red truck explosion to the Bison taking hits, but says it's short. Maybe two or three minutes. From this time to time of disablement of APC was perhaps 15 minutes.

Says that Chilliwack members may have fired a couple of rounds as soon as the rounds hit the APC, but he's not sure. ST asks if these rounds happened before or during the chase. DL: "What chase?". Laughter.

MB/ ST cont'd with Cst. Lafond - DL clarifies that he only fired his weapon once he was in the Green Bison. He believes that two Chilliwack members may have fired a few rounds shortly after the red pickup was disabled. ST suggests that Cpl. Preston and Cst. Maloney fired their weapons a fair bit - not just a few rounds. DL admits this is possible. ST suggests that as Bison was moving after they heard rounds hit the hull, the Chilliwack members fired their weapons out of the hatches above indiscriminately at the treeline. DL can't recall. He recalls military members being "Shakey" (Conners) and Steve (Bidwell). He can't remember Steve telling Shakey what to do during this time period. DL says his hearing is fine, but says that there was a lot going on at the time.

DL admits that Preston may have told the driver to chase someone, but "I can't testify who said what to who, because I'm not sure."

DL remembers arresting blond woman (Suniva), man behind her (Grant), man in red (Wolverine) and Mr. Rosette. He doesn't remember children coming out. ST asks if following the arrest he said, "Is that all there is?" DL can't remember. Says it's possible though.

GW has no questions.

DC - DL agrees that ramming the truck was the backup plan. It wasn't the plan should the explosives work. DL says that because of the dust, they couldn't be sure if the truck was disabled. DC reads from DL's statement that he was aware that the truck was disabled. DL explains that at the time, he didn't know if the explosives had done the job. Says that at time of ramming, he didn't know if the people were still in the truck or not. DL says that purpose of ramming the vehicle was not to disorient the occupants, but to disable the truck. DL's statement continues that they rammed the vehicle and waited a few minutes. DL agrees that this is what he said. DC thinks this is odd because if disorientation was the plan, the ERT members should have dismounted immediately after the explosion. DL says that they weren't sure if the other team members had cleared the truck or not so they waited. Finally they went out and checked the truck out themselves.

DL agrees that shooting began shortly after ramming the pickup. He doesn't know if shooting had stopped prior to the Red Bison becoming immobilized. DL says he doesn't think the firing was continuous. DC suggests that it's difficult to remember because he's listening to radio as well as ERT members firing. DL admits that's a fair statement. In his statement, DL had said that they could hear rounds hitting the APC of different calibres because some sounded harsh. DC notes that DL had said that different types of fire occurred after they were immobilized. DC notes that there is no reference to types of fire when they were chasing snipers. His notes however make no distinction in time between when shooting began and ended. DL admits that in neither his notes or his statement is there any reference to who he is chasing.

SF - SF asks if DL knew that he was firing into a safe zone when he was firing from the Green Bison. DL admits that he knew that he was within the safe zone when he was firing. He had seen the map. DL says that he was firing to protect the members. He admits that the Red Bison had started this by going into the safe zone. SF asks if he agrees that he was violating the rules of the safe zone. J says that this is for the jury to decide. SF asks if he knows that the members in the camp were saying that the land was unceded and all unceded land was a safe zone. DL didn't know this. DL did not get information from his superiors that the people in the camp were saying that the RCMP and the army didn't have jurisdiction to be in there. He wasn't aware that they were asking for a rule of law decision.

DL says that they tried Mr. Clark, but that didn't work. DL is sure that Mr. Clark told the camp members that they had a right to be on the land and the only trespassers there were the RCMP. He doesn't know how he heard this. DL admits that he was firing into a safe zone at people that were declaring their right to be there.

JF - Next witness (#47): Cpl. Robert Curtis Horton (RH) - 22 years on force. With Victoria SubDivision Dog Section. With dogs since 1980. As of Sept. 6, involved in Gustafsen Lake as dog handler. Police dog Tiak. On Sept. 7th, he went with Courtney ERT because they were short a police dog. This was at 1029 marker on the 1000 Road - checkpoint Delta. Met with Ian Jakes, the other dog handler and ERT leader. He was teamed up with Cpl. Klassen.

His duty was to go forward "towards hostile encampment." This entailed placing trip flares down. Flare is in metal case and a wire is placed from waist level down to knees. Flare is very bright and is an early warning device. He, dog and Klassen went along 1000 Road, 500-600 metres. They were not walking along road because there were already flares along there, so they didn't want to trip them. He got notice that a sensor device had gone off on 1100 Road, so they were told to become static until it was determined what had tripped sensor.

They waited at edge of ravine for radio report. He was in the most forward police position at this time.

They had been on the ground for about 10-15 minutes. Then a stun grenade went off 150 metres up the road. "This scared the (pause) hell out of me my lord." Dog got up growling. He knew it was a stun grenade because of his experience with them in the past. He got on radio and told them that they had not set off stun grenade.

RH and Klassen went to a less vulnerable position - to a rock outcrop that had better cover. He was about 25 metres to west side of road. He could see a portion of the road to the east and south. He laid next to dog beside him. Dog alerted him to sound in the distance. RH shows with his hands how dog's ears act like radar dishes. He looks like Mickey Mouse. RH believed that someone was to his front moving in the bush. Dog remained alert for a few minutes and RH believes sound was human. Dog continued to scan. Says that dog indicated sound was coming from south - southwest from where he was facing. RH couldn't see a thing. Thinks it must have been quite a distance - a few hundred yards or more - because he couldn't hear or see anything himself.

Ex. 5 of map of area shown to RH. He says that Courtney ERT was at "D" position. South on Tiger, just around jog of road was where he and Klassen were located. Says that the noise the dog heard was between Monkey and Lion. They did not change locations.

Then he heard a helicopter about 15 minutes later. He could hear it flying from east. It passed by them over roadway. RH spoke to pilot as aircraft passed. When the helicopter was 200 yards past RH's position, he heard eight shots fired. He believes shots were fired up in the air. He radioed pilot that he was taking fire and that he should get out of there. Pilot veered right and took off. Says shots were not full auto, but semi-auto. Says that the shots came from location of stun grenade sound 200 yards south on road. They stayed there for next 15 minutes, but heard nothing. They were extracted by Bison.

After this, on Sept. 10, he was assigned to Blue Bison. There were 15 personnel in there and two dogs.

On morning of Sept. 11th, following report of Red Bison being disabled, the Blue Bison went from Tiger onto Lion. They slowed around corner and then proceeded along shoreline. They slowed, next to Red, reversed, and took sporadic fire. This was his first time in an APC, so he didn't realize what the sound was. There was a "pinging" sound when it was light rounds - heavy rounds made a "whack" sound. At first it was intermittent with shots seconds apart. After they pulled up next to Red, it increased to hundreds, thousands of rounds. Says that at first, shots were hitting left side facing west.

Says that it was very cramped inside. Some members laid down suppressive fire, while he and others loaded magazines. The dog is trained to react to gunfire, so wasn't very happy about all the firing going on. Dog was trying to get out of hatches.

Before top hatches of Blue Bison were opened when sitting next to Red, he could hear lots of fire hitting the Bison. He never discharged his weapon nor any explosive devices. Says he was in there for about two hours. Bisons finally left and went along lakeshore back onto Tiger (1000 Road). Says that 11 more members and two dogs from Nelson and Vancouver got picked up on road for a total of 26 people inside the Bison.

On Sept. 17, he went in to camp area to assist investigators going into the camp. His dog found about a dozen .22 rounds south of the encampment. He used global positioning system to get the latitudes and longitudes of this location.

On large aerial photo, he points to where he found .22 bullets. They are on edge of treeline by fence. JF wants J to stand down court for a minute while sheriffs prepare a video for RH's viewing. J stands down court and video is cued up. J and jury return.

RH watches Ex. 115a. Aerial video from Wescam. You see Blue Bison stop, reverse, and then pull ahead next to Green and Red. Blue is on the west side of the formation. Certain members were told to deploy smoke and that's what they did.

HR - During helicopter incident, RH agrees that he heard eight shots. He saw no smoke during this. Helicopter was 200 metres south of them over Tiger, about 1200 to 1500 feet above. Says he believed shots were directed at the helicopter. He agrees that he was drawing an inference that shots were directed at the helicopter.

At the Bison incident, RH says that most of the rounds were not coming from the Bisons. He doesn't know how many rounds came from his Bison. HR says 95% of the rounds came from the police. He disagrees. He thinks there were thousands of rounds incoming. HR: "Are you serious about this?" RH says he later looked at his vehicle and says there were quite a few marks on it, but doesn't know how many. RH says he only glanced at it. He also looked at Red Bison with Lt. Blanc. Says again that there were quite a few marks on it, but has no idea how many.

ST - RH never heard of no-go zone or saw a map. Agrees that he wasn't getting daily updates from Zulu. On Sept. 7, he agrees that he assumed that other members were in their forward posts because he was briefed at 1029 area and shown a map of their positions. ST says that he has never seen this map. RH says there was a map. RH says that he saw a few of the positions with men in them as he walked, but can't say for sure what these members did after he saw them. He says he knew it wasn't a police officer that tripped the stun grenade to his front because he was tasked with moving the perimeter closer to the camp and he was the most forward officer at the time. Cpl. Wyton briefed him on this. He agrees that he wasn't aware of where all the ERT teams were. Says that Ottawa and Regina ERT didn't arrive until Sept. 9.

RH says that Ex. 5 map isn't large enough to show where he was that day on the 7th. Says that he has a better map that he was given at time. ST looks at map and notes that this took place quite far away from the lake. RH says that his dog could detect sounds up to perhaps 200 yards away. Looking on map, he says that the camp was only 2 km away. ST: "So this dog hasn't told you how far he can hear?" J: "Please, Mr. Tate." Snickers in the jury. ST claims he wants to know how far the dog can hear. J apologizes because he didn't think it was a serious question.

RH says that stun grenade went off, but isn't sure at what time. ST suggests there was a radio transmission that day indicating that the red truck was stationary. RH doesn't remember that transmission.

On the 11th, RH knew eight people were all that should fit in Bison. Cst. Walter McCue ordered 12 people and two dog handlers and two dogs in there. RH had never trained for this before with so many people. He says they didn't expect to be in there so long.

GW - RH has 16 years with dogs. Dog now is still Tiak. RH agrees that all things the dogs indicate are not always correct. Agrees that sometimes they make errors and has seen it with his other dogs in the past. On the 7th, he admits that both he and Tiak had arrived in a new location from Victoria. He had arrived the night before, but feels he had enough rest that night. "I don't know about the dog."

The dog alerted him to sounds. RH agrees that there were many officers in the Gustafsen Lake area at this time. He doesn't know that there was a community of journalists just up the road. Claims that he didn't watch TV two and a half weeks prior to coming to lake because he was camping on leave. He later learned that there was a large collection of journalists there, as well as a media officer named Montague. He agrees that sometimes the media tries to get closer to the story. GW suggests that the dog could have detected someone trying to get into the camp from the outside. RH disagrees, but agrees that the dog could not differentiate between a camp member smell and a media member smell. RH agrees that this area was not secure. GW says that a person could have walked from 100 Mile House to this area. RH: "It would be a long walk, my lord." RH agrees that roadblocks on 1000 Road do not guarantee that people can't get in.

He knows that Victoria ERT was already on scene, but he was on leave. He had not heard of Victoria ERT being fired upon on Sept. 5. GW reads newspaper article recounting this incident of camp members firing at officers and then stalking them through the night. RH doesn't recall this incident. As dog handler, he was never taken out to area to look for human scent where his team was fired upon. He doesn't know of any member telling him this later. RH says that in his off time, someone told him they had come under fire, but was never told of being stalked overnight. GW asks if he knows of an incident where a team hit a branch and then fired into the bush. J says that this won't assist the jury because RH never got to area until Sept. 7. RH admits that he never went out to scene with dog to look for human scent.

DC - RH says he believed that the marks he saw on the Bison were from gunfire. He says that the sound of the shots hitting the Bison was consistent with the analogy of heating up popcorn - slow "popping" sounds at first, increasing to very fast "pop, pop, pop, pop" sounds. DC reiterates "pop, pop, pop" sounds. RH does same, but even quicker. Laughter in courtroom. J: "I'd like the last question and answer read back. (Pause). I'm just kidding." More laughter.

RH can't say he saw thousands of hits on the Bison, but can say they were multiple marks. DC reads from case report. Says that the left side of the Bison was facing the Indian encampment. Agrees that this was north, but on map says camp is left of Bison site. Report says that hundreds of rounds were going out as return fire and hundreds were coming in at them as well. RH says that he knew hundreds were going out because he was loading magazines. RH agrees that what he testified today was that thousands of rounds came in. RH denies that this wasn't embellishment or misleading, but rather a memory difference. DC wonders if he has a memory problem with the rest of the testimony he gave. RH says no. The rest is accurate to the best of his recollection.

AB/ Without jury.

J asks if there is anything new he can tell the jury regarding length of trial.

MA - says that reducing the exhibit people may save three or four days. But otherwise, there is no change in what he has already told the Judge.

GW - indicates trial may last until December.

DC - Says that he and GW feel they can deal with this by Christmas. The difficulty is that when we get new disclosures, it opens up new avenues of cross-examination that they have a duty to follow up with.

J appreciates that there is an effort. Says that he would like to tell jury Christmas, but doesn't really believe it will be finished until January or February.

Jury in.

J tells jury that they have been most patient. They were told that this trial would last three months, but Counsel, like J, believe this is going to take longer. Says that one of the problems is that they never had a preliminary trial, as most trials have. Plus a trial of this size is new to the province and the country, so it's all new to us too. Says the most optimistic estimate is Christmas, but a more likely amount would be to January and maybe even February. He knows that jury members are trying to fulfil their civic duties, but they were also told that it would only last three months. Break at Christmas would be from Dec. 20 to Jan. 6. J would like comments from jury about these new estimates. The outcome could be a mistrial, which means we might have to start again with great expense. He realizes that this is asking a lot from them.

DC cont'd with Cpl. Horton - RH checked the Bison with a flashlight with Lt. Blanc. He agrees that he couldn't tell the difference between police bullet marks and other bullet marks. RH says that from time of leaving Tiger and Panther to finally escorting Red and Green out was about two hours.

On Sept. 7th, he saw helicopter bank to right and presumes they did so based on his instructions to the pilot.

RH admits that he is not aware of a map outlining all the ERT stun grenade locations. He would only learn this by going to the different ERT areas and getting map from individual teams.

DC notes that in RH's case report of Sept. 7th, there is no mention of impacts or where bullets were directed, unlike today's testimony.

MA - Reviews list of personnel in Red Bison with RH and he agrees that there were 17 people in total in Bison. Six were standing above laying down fire. Seven people, including RH, were loading magazines. Denies taking army ammo from below benches. He says that he never ran out of ammo. Agrees it was pandemonium in the Bison during this. MA says that Nigel Marsh was in the Blue Bison, but RH doesn't remember him. MA says that Marsh took the driver's C-7 (military M-16), but RH doesn't remember this.

MA says that RH's Blue Bison came under fire from the south. RH denies this. MA suggests that the members shot to the water side. RH says the hatches were closed at this point. He doesn't remember being told that there were members on the other side of the lake. He didn't know where other ERT members were around the lake. RH never saw a "belligerent" because he never stuck his head up. He never heard any other member later mention seeing any belligerents.

SF - RH had heard that there were Elders going in on the 11th. SF points on large aerial photo where Elders were waiting. He didn't see Elders on road when they went south on 1000 Road because he wasn't near a viewing port. He was not aware that they were going to detonate the red truck that day. He wasn't aware of where the Elders were that day when thousands of rounds were fired.

JF - Next witness (#48): Cst. Sean Maloney (SM) - 14 years on force. Stationed in Chilliwack since January, 1996. In 1995, he was stationed in Agassiz. In Kamloops ERT for four years. Joined Chilliwack ERT team for August 1995. Went to Chilliwack to train how to drive Bisons. On Aug. 27, went to Kamloops, had a briefing, and was assigned to the Red Bison. Partnered with Cpl. George Preston. He went to Gustafsen Lake on Sept. 7th.

On Sept. 11, he was on road leading into Percy's property. Arrived the previous night. Was with Preston and two military personnel assigned to Bison. Two Vancouver ERT members in Bison too. He was aware of a plan dealing with the red truck. His role in the Bison was to be positioned in the right rear hatch. SM understood that role of Bison was if red truck went beyond perimeter point, they would intercept it.

On morning of 11th, he was listening to the radio and monitoring reports of the red truck. Heard that truck was heading south on 1000 Road. Vehicle went over "explosive perimeter" and explosion was heard. He was exposed in right rear hatch during explosion. Preston was in left rear hatch. Two Vancouver ERT below as were two EDU people and military personnel. Bison went left and within 20 seconds, they were up to truck. All he could see was smoke. Bison hit something and rose up. It backed up and then stopped. After a pause, SM says that he doesn't recall giving the Bison direction to move up the road.

Bison came to a stop in front of the red vehicle. Rear ramp dropped and two Vancouver ERT exited and ran to truck. SM and Preston jumped to roof of Bison and provided cover to Vancouver ERT members. He saw no one in the red truck and no one around, other than Vancouver ERT member. These two jumped back into Bison, as did he and Preston. The Bison ramp went up. Before this, he saw dog 50 yards up road lying on its left side.

Once in Bison, they remained at that location for a few minutes. Over the ERT radio, they were told to go to intersection of 1000 Road and Lakeshore Road. As they drove there, he was still exposed and he saw nothing. He was told to hold that position. They did so for a few minutes. He was told by unknown person to move location. He was told to head down Lakeshore Road and to cover the tracking team that was being fired upon. He understood that tracking team was on lakeshore on same side as he was.

They drove down lakeshore and he was still standing in his right rear hatch. Preston stood in left rear hatch. As they drove, he could see a vehicle in the distance. He could see someone standing next to vehicle or on top. Person was carrying something, though he couldn't see this clearly. Person was carrying it in the same manner you would hold a rifle in the aiming position. Bison was heading west during this point and car was to front about 100 yards away. Car was left of his position. Can't describe vehicle, but believes it was a blue pickup truck.

Person remained in that position for several seconds. SM says that the person was facing the lake. Car took off. He says that the Bison went along lakeshore and stopped. On small aerial photo, he shows where Red Bison came to stop at edge of lake - below the left hand path of road triangle. At lake, Bison was facing in northerly position. SM was still in right rear hatch and Preston was in left rear hatch - both exposed from the chest up.

SM observed two people crossing lake about a 100 yards away. They were walking towards the Bison. He couldn't tell if they were male or female. Could see people were up to their neck in water.

Preston yelled "RCMP." He then fired two shots into lake. SM believes rounds hit water some distance to front of people. Both people placed hands in the air. SM doesn't remember Preston saying anything else. When Preston fired, SM was watching the people in the lake. SM was carrying an M-16.

SM then turned and faced the hill to cover that side of the Bison. When he turned, he heard what sounded like bullets going through the air past his head. He then heard bullets hit the Bisons and dust being kicked up. Preston was still facing the lake. SM says the bullets appeared to be coming from the hillside he was covering. He estimates about a dozen rounds were fired. Bullets were hitting metal just below his chest. He didn't see anyone in direction he believed bullets were coming from.

He then returned fire in semi-automatic mode. He fired three or four rounds. He was not able to identify shooter, so he dropped down his hatch where he was standing. Preston was still standing. He yelled at Preston to get down and pulled on his pant leg. Preston dropped down and SM saw a bullet strike the hatch edge where Preston had just been. He saw dust raise where it hit.

SM says it sounded like semi-automatic rifle fire. He directed his fire at the hill. There was some discussion. One of the people in the Bison identified the location of the shooter. JF is about to ask SM what he was then told. HR objects and JF says that they can discuss this after court. It's 4:00 p.m., so it's a good time to break.

   * Day 49: Monday, September 30         * Day 52: Thursday, October 3
   * Day 50: Tuesday, October 1           * Day 53: Friday, October 4
   * Day 51: Wednesday, October 2