The police officer who shot Douglas Minty to death was on the stand at the inquest into Minty’s death.
Minty is the developmentally disabled man shot five times after an altercation with a door-to-door salesman and then police at his home in Elmvale five years ago.
Constable Jeff Seguin told the inquest on Thursday that he was terrified for his life as he was approached by Minty, who was carrying a knife.
Whether the jackknife was open or closed was a contentious issue in the testimony, Seguin saying it was open and Minty closed it after being shot.
Seguin said he backed away as Minty approached, and yelled for him to drop the knife — and then he started shooting.
Seguin says he shot Minty once and he kept coming, so he shot him again.
The constable says after the second shot, he didn’t assess the situation any more, he just kept shooting, thinking his life was in danger.
There has been contradictory testimony about the knife and about Minty’s actions.
Some witnesses saying the knife was a kitchen knife rather than a folding knife, others saying he was running at the officer, while others say Minty was lumbering toward him.
Testimony continues Friday.
