Shooting was accidental: Stanley’s son testifies
Gerald Stanley’s 28-year-old son Sheldon Stanley says his father initially pulled out his gun as a scare tactic, but accidentally fired it the afternoon Colten Boushie died.
According to Sheldon, Gerald Stanley claimed the shooting was accidental. The handgun his father used to shoot Boushie “just went off,” he testified. Stanley has pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder. His high-profile trial by jury began Monday at Battleford’s Court of Queen’s Bench.
Sheldon, the Crown’s first eyewitness to give evidence at the trial, said he was staying at his parents’ farm and was helping his father build a corral when they heard a noisy vehicle approaching on the road. The grey Ford Escape pulled into their yard and stopped next to a truck, he testified, but neither man gave it much thought because Gerald Stanley supplimented his farming income with mechanical work. When a passenger got out of the SUV and into a client’s truck, Sheldon said he assumed the owner had stopped by to retreive something.
Sheldon said he first realized something was wrong when the SUV pulled up next to a quad and another passenger jumped out.