By The Canadian Press

Crown lawyer relays chilling account of workplace shooting in Nanaimo, B.C.

Sep 7, 2016 | 5:52 PM

NANAIMO, B.C. — A Crown lawyer says a man accused of killing two employees and attempting to kill two others yelled expletives and said, “You know who I am” during a shooting rampage at his former workplace in Nanaimo, B.C.

Nic Barber started the trial Wednesday of former sawmill worker Kevin Addison with a chilling account of the alleged events on April 30, 2014.

Addison, who sat in the prisoner’s box in B.C. Supreme Court wearing a dark green shirt and leg shackles, is charged with two counts each of first-degree murder and attempted murder.

Barber said evidence will be presented that Addison, 50, used a sawed-off shotgun to kill Michael Lunn in the parking lot of Western Forest Products moments after the man arrived at about 7 a.m.

Lunn, 62, was hit in the back of his right arm by a single blast, Barber said. He died in the lot despite efforts by a security guard, a co-worker and paramedics to save him, court heard.

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Barber said the trial will hear Addison, who had grievances against Western Forest Products, then walked toward the company office and shot Tony Sudar in the face before shooting Earl Kelly and Fred McEachern in the back.

Despite being shot, McEachern, along with two other employees, Andrew Vanger and Ed Good, subdued Addison and held him until RCMP arrived minutes later, Barber said.

The wounded McEachern, 53, hit Addison over the head with a chair but later died of his gunshot injuries, Barber said.

Sudar was sent to hospital in Nanaimo, while Kelly was airlifted to hospital in Victoria, south of the central Vancouver Island city.

Nanaimo RCMP Const. Paul Minkley told the jury he was the first officer to get to the mill site, arriving less than three minutes after the 911 call about shots fired with an active shooter in the building.

Minkley said he saw a man down in the parking lot with at least one person standing over him, but he headed for the company office.

“I yelled, ‘police, come out of the building,’” he said. “I heard one voice: ‘we’re in here, we need an ambulance.’”

Minkley testified he saw a man on the ground bleeding from his torso, with others around him trying to help.

“My question for the people in the room was: ‘where is the shooter?’” said Minkley.

They gestured to a man sitting against the wall and said he’s got a gun under him, he explained.

Minkley said he pointed his weapon at the man and told him to put his hands up and that he was being arrested for attempted murder.

“His demeanour was, I would describe it as flat, unemotional,” said Minkley.

The Crown expects to call about 30 witnesses during the trial, which is set to last up to three weeks.

RCMP forensics specialist Sgt. Keith Stone testified that he arrived at the scene shortly after the shooting.

He described what appeared to be blood stains in the parking lot and a blood-like trail in the company office leading from a reception area to a common employee area.

Stone said there was “projectile damage” in the walls and windows of the office.

Western Forest Products is British Columbia’s largest woodland operator and lumber producer. It owns eight sawmills and two remanufacturing plants and ships lumber to 25 countries.

Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press