By Bryn Levy/CKOM News Staff

‘He just came out of nowhere:’ Biggar shooting witness speaks

Aug 12, 2016 | 7:11 AM

A 21-year-old man said he and his friends weren’t looking for trouble when they pulled into Gerald Stanley’s farm at roughly 5:30 p.m., Tuesday. 
 
Rather, Eric Meechance said they were seeking help with a flat tire.

Meechance explained that he, Colten Boushie, their girlfriends and another friend ​had been for a swim in the river that day near Maymont, Sask. He said the group was on their way home to the Red Pheasant First Nation when the tire blew out.

Meechance said they were attacked almost immediately upon stopping in Stanley’s yard, located roughly halfway between Cando and Sonningdale, Sask, north of Biggar.
 
“All of a sudden some guy, he just came out and he just smashed our windshield,” he said.
 
From there, Meechance said his friend tried to drive away.
 
“He couldn’t really see because the windshield was cracked, it was all spidered across,” he said.
 
Meechance said they struck a vehicle parked in the yard, and that’s when he and the driver got out of the car and took off running. Meechance thought at that point, Boushie and the two girlfriends were still in the car.

He said he was still running when the man allegedly opened fire.

“We were maybe like 10, 15 feet from the vehicle and I just heard a shot go off — boom,” he said. 

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Meechance said he heard more shots as he scrambled for cover, passing a woman who he said was mowing the lawn. He was picked up several minutes later by a police canine unit some distance from the Stanley property. 

“I just started walking on the road because I had nothing to hide, you know? I knew the cops were coming,” he said adding he only learned after being arrested that Boushie, 22, had died after being shot. 

Meechance said he was speaking out because he said he wanted to make it clear he and his friends didn’t go to Stanley’s farm to cause trouble.
 
“We didn’t even talk to the dude. He just came out of nowhere. We were parked there and then he just came out of nowhere and he just smashed the windshield,” he said.

FAMILY CALLS FOR JUSTICE

Family members gathered Thursday at the Red Pheasant community hall, awaiting the arrival of Boushie’s body from North Battleford.

Jade Tootoosis explained she was Boushie’s cousin, but that the close extended family referred to each other as brothers and sisters.
 
“We want to speak for our brother, for our loved one as much as we can and for people to know that he was a good person and he was a gentle person,” she said.

Boushie was described as a hard worker who often did odd jobs around the community for a bit of extra spending money. Skyler Brown, another cousin, said Boushie was working to become a firefighter. Those who knew him, said Boushie was not known to be a troublemaker.
 
“He was important. He was loved. He was respected and we’re going to miss him. And I don’t want his memory to just drift away,” Tootoosis said.
 
Tootoosis said online comments from people applauding Boushie’s death have driven her off of social media for now.  
 
“It made me sick to my stomach with anger and with sadness. For one, we lost our brother. We’re trying to process that. We’re trying to process the judgment that people were having upon my brother not knowing who he was, not knowing what took place,” she said
 
Tootoosis said she worried about the impact Boushie’s death may have on the relationship between the Red Pheasant community and its neighbours. 
 
“Where can we feel safe? Where can we break down if we have vehicle issues? We can’t break down on the back roads because someone’s going to come out with a gun,” she said.
 
Tootoosis said it’s difficult to think about an eventual court case as the family has yet to bury her cousin.
 
“All I hope is that the person who did this is held accountable for his actions, and to the utmost, highest degree. Because we’re not going to get our brother back and I refuse to let this just be a small issue, a small event,” she said.
 
Stanley, 54, has been charged with second-degree murder in Boushie’s death. To date, none of the allegations against him have been proven in court. 
 

blevy@ckom.com

On Twitter: @BrynLevy