Alain Magloire told police 'go ahead and shoot me,' inquest hears

Alain Magloire leapt onto the hood of an approaching police cruiser and tried to smash the windshield as an officer tried to tackle him to the ground, a constable involved in last February's fatal shooting of the homeless Montreal man told a coroner's inquest.

Const. Alex Campeau also testified Tuesday afternoon that a stun gun arrived seconds after Magloire was shot four times by police.

He told the inquest being held in Montreal that in the final seconds before the shooting, he realized it was time to put an end to the threat.

Campeau said he had his finger on the trigger of his gun as Magloire, 41, raised a hammer, but another officer fired.

An electric stun gunthat Campeau and his partner, Const. JeanneBruneau, had called for arrived seconds later in one of the cruisers that sped to the scene. Campeau and Bruneau were the first officers to get to the scene.

Bruneau testified earlier in the day that she thought she might die that morning.

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Bruneauwas the officer heard on recordings withdispatchers during the first day of testimony on Monday.

Bruneautold the inquiry she and Campeau came acrossMagloireonOntario Street in Montreal's downtown, after receiving a call from dispatchers about a manarmed with a hammerwalking on nearby Saint-Denis Street.

When they stopped their cruiser near Magloire, Bruneausaid she yelled from the passenger seat for him to drop a hammer he was holding. She testified he swung it at her head, barely missing.

The officer said shethought Magloire was trying to kill her, and for a moment she thought she was about to die.

She told the inquest she yelled at the man several times to drop the hammer or she'd have to shoot.

The officers were out of their cruiser at that point.

Magloirereplied in French saying, "Go ahead and shoot me...I don't give a f--k," according toBruneau.

She said Magloire was shot by another officer who arrived at the scene as hewas about to strike her partner with the hammer.

No charges have been laid against any of the officers involved.

Hearings to last 2 weeks

The inquest is expected to last two weeks.

Another session in March will look at social and medical assistance, and help available to people with mental-health issues.

"The role of the coroner is not to settle everything, but to put everybody on the good track and say, 'This is where you should be looking. This is where things can be [improved],'" said former Quebec coroner Denis Boudrias.

Magloire was the father of two girls and worked as a molecular biology researcher before developing a mental illness.

He began living on the streets in November 2013, just three months before his death, according to his brother.

"I think we'll be able to take a step forward as a society, to see there is a problem and to wake up," said Pierre Magloire, adding that he hopes the inquest will prevent situations like his brothers from happening again.