‘He didn’t get a chance to get help’: Jury offers no recommendations as Ryan Booker’s death inquest concludes

WATCH: After hearing from 15 witnesses over 3 days, the jury for Ryan Booker’s death inquest offered no recommendations. Sierra D’Souza Butts has more.

A jury has ruled Ryan Booker’s manner of death to be suicide and has provided no recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future.

Booker, 26, died on July 17, 2022, after a six-hour standoff on Highway 1 near Belle Plane. He was fatally shot by police after reportedly pointing a gun at officers.

The verdict ended a three-day-long death inquest. A total of 15 witnesses testified - which included officers who were at the scene that day and members of Booker’s family.

Disappointed by the outcome, Booker’s sister, Sydney, recounted that he was a great father and wished he knew how much he was loved.

“I feel like if we waited three years for this with a narrative that it was a high speed chase. That he was very erratic, that he was crazy saying all these hurtful things, but the fact of the matter was is he was scared, he was terrified and he was sad,” she told CTV News.

“I just hate how he didn’t get the chance to get help.”

Based on the 10 police officers who testified to the events leading up to Booker’s death, Sydney said she felt the jury should have come up with suggestions.

“I think that the police have a job to do, but ultimately from all the testimonies, there were so many opportunities to dissolve the situation before it got this far. So many opportunities to stop him,” she shared.

“They didn’t even consider using less lethal force and there was many opportunities to do that. I know it’s easier said being from an outside perspective and not being there, but based on how the cards were and everything, there were so many opportunities to stop this.”

She added she believes the manner of death should have been declared as accidental or undetermined, and not suicide.

Cst. Burton Steele, a former emergency response member for the Saskatchewan RCMP, fired the fatal shot that killed Booker.

During his testimony on Tuesday, Steele told the jury that RCMP officers are advised to use their own discretion when firing their weapons.

He testifying that members can act if they, “fear bodily harm or death” for themselves, nearby officers, or members of the public.

• Download the CTV News app to get breaking news alerts sent to your device

At the time of the incident, the jury heard that Booker continuously requested to speak to his fiancé.

Booker’s father, Barry Nosal, was at the scene and testified that he tried to speak with his son during the standoff - but was advised by police that it was not safe to do so.

“Any parent would give their soul to have the opportunity for him [Ryan] to shoot me while I’m trying to save him,” Nosal explained, following the verdict. “If he’s going to shoot me then so be it, but to not give the opportunity, I think they failed there.”

As this was the first encounter Booker had with police, Nosal said he wishes the public knew more about the type of person he was.

“I just want to make it clear that my son wasn’t the person they made him out to be. He was a great person ... I wanted to show the jurors a picture of him because everyone has a picture of a drug addict in their mind,” Nosal explained.

“They never got to see my son and how handsome he was. He was sharp kid … He wasn’t a waste. This just should never have happened.”

A medical expert also appeared as a witness, revealing Booker’s cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the face and neck.

Although the Moose Jaw Police Service (MJPS) was originally in charge of the operation, the shift of authority transpired once the altercation moved outside of city limits – leaving RCMP Supt. Andrew Farquhar in command.

Farquhar told the jury he volunteered to be the “critical incident commander” during the operation - a standard protocol for police in any emergency setting.

When asked by the inquest counsel if using “less lethal weapons” to contain Booker was an option, Farquhar said he took all suggestions from frontline officers into consideration.

“My role is to listen to all of my subject matter experts, apply risk assessment to what they are saying or what they’re asking, and take all that information to my investigators,” he told the jury.

“They advised me [Booker] was closure motivated … I believe we were getting to an area where he was contemplating committing suicide, and I did not want to push him over.”

He added that officers were “beyond range” to effectively use their less-lethal weapons. Furthermore, Farquhar said the less-lethal option would have attracted more consideration if police were able to separate Booker from his firearm.

On Tuesday, police testimony revealed that Booker’s firearm was not loaded - with officers discovering this following the shooting.

Despite the lack of jury recommendations, Saskatchewan’s Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) was established in January of 2023 to independently investigate serious incidents involving police officers and members of the public.

Meaning future cases like Booker’s will have an additional layer of oversight.