Passenger in vehicle with Whitstone when he died testifies in inquest

The woman who was with Brydon Whitstone the night he died testified in the second day of the inquest into his death.

Amanda Wahobin said she met Whitstone a few months before the fatal incident on Oct. 21, 2017. She told jurors that she and Whitstone were planning to go to a wedding that night. They borrowed a car from a friend, which was stolen, but Wahobin was unclear in her testimony whether Whitstone knew the car was stolen or not.

She testified that later in the evening while driving, they passed a police car which then pulled a U-turn and turned on its lights. That’s when Whitstone said, “Are you ready, my minion?” and sped away, a phrase she interpreted to mean he wasn’t going to stop, according to Wahobin.

Whitstone briefly sped through a residential neighbourhood before slamming into a police cruiser going 83 kilometres per hour, according to a RCMP traffic reconstructionist. He then tried to keep going, but stopped after crashing into another cop car, eventually becoming boxed in by police cruisers.

Wahobin told jurors Whitstone tried to drive the car forward and put it in reverse but it had nowhere to go. At some point the front side windows were smashed out and she heard police yell to stop and get out of the car. She said Whitstone ignored the commands, and instead motioned to grab something out of his pants. It was then she heard police yell “he’s reaching for something” and then police shot Whitstone twice in the chest.

There were several inconsistencies throughout Wahobin’s testimony compared to a police interview she gave the day after Whitstone died. When asked about conversations she had with Whitstone before the fatal incident regarding his mental health and how he wanted to die, she said she couldn’t remember what exactly was said or when.

On Monday jurors heard from an RCMP investigator that the incident began when a call came into RCMP that someone on foot had been shot at from someone in a car. An RCMP officer began pursuing the car Whitstone was driving because it matched the description.

Ten more witnesses have yet to testify, including the officer that fatally shot Whitstone.

The inquest is scheduled to wrap up Friday, when the six jurors will determine the cause, manner and circumstances of Whitstone’s death and make recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future.