When he saw a car pull up on his passenger side and noticed a man with a gun in the back seat, Justin Stolar says he and his girlfriend immediately ducked down.
Testifying Monday at the trial of William Roderick Gunn and William Joseph Paul in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench, Stolar described hearing a shot followed by a thud. He said someone fired at his rear passenger door and took off.
The car had followed him out of a parking lot in the Fairhaven neighbourhood after his passenger, who had been outside, told him to drive because someone had a gun, Stolar said.
Gunn, 22, and Paul, 25, pleaded not guilty to several charges related to a stolen car, a sawed-off shotgun and an ensuing police chase and crash on March 21, 2015.
Stolar said when he looked in his mirror and saw a man with a bandana covering his face, he tried to speed away but got stuck at a traffic light.
That’s when the shooting happened, he testified. Court heard the shot didn’t penetrate the door.
Kendrea McDonnell testified she was inside a car with Gunn and Paul and another man (who is not on trial) when Paul fired a shotgun out the back window. She said Gunn passed Paul the gun, which had been wrapped in clothing near her feet, right before the shot was fired.
However, under cross-examination, McDonnell said she saw the gun being passed sometime between leaving the parking lot and pulling up beside the car. The defence spent much of the day questioning McDonnell on inconsistent statements in her testimony.
Brent Little, Gunn’s lawyer, asked McDonnell why she gave certain information in court that she didn’t give to police, including about seeing the gun before the shooting. McDonnell said she wasn’t lying to police, but was remembering more details on the stand as the questions refreshed her memory.
Earlier this month, McDonnell received a 12-month conditional sentence for knowingly being in a vehicle with a prohibited, sawed-off shotgun. She told Little she had been facing more serious charges before she provided police with a second statement, in which she implicated Gunn and Paul. She admitted being scared of going to jail, but said she gave the revised statement because she wanted to tell the truth.
After the shooting, McDonnell said they tried fleeing police but crashed into a garage. Gunn told her to “take the gun charges” so he wouldn’t go to jail, she testified, adding the accused was affiliated with the Saskatchewan Warriors street gang.
McDonnell had been drinking alcohol that day but said it only affected some of her memory. On re-examination, Crown prosecutor Cory Bliss asked if she had any trouble remembering who drove the car and who fired the shot; she said no.
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