STAY CONNECTED: Have the stories that matter most delivered every night to your email inbox. Subscribe to our daily local news wrap.

Mountie on trial for manslaughter testifies he feared for his life

Jun 26, 2019 | 2:13 PM

THOMPSON, Man. — A Manitoba Mountie on trial for manslaughter in an on-duty shooting has testified that he thought he was going to be run over before he fired his weapon.

Const. Abram Letkeman told court in Thompson, Man., that he thought the only way he could survive was by shooting into a Jeep driven by Steven Campbell in November 2015.

Campbell was hit at least nine times and 12 bullet casings were found at the scene.

Letkeman testified that he saw the Jeep being driven erratically and attempted to pull it over before eventually ramming his police car into the vehicle, which spun out and stopped.

The Jeep kept going and Letkeman ended up T-boning it with his cruiser.

He told court he walked in front of the Jeep and it moved towards him, so he began to fire.

Crown prosecutors asked the officer why he would continue pursuing the Jeep and run into it when it was not what he was trained to do.

The Canadian Press