Thursday, January 1, 2026
ADVT 
National

Eyewitnesses take stand in N.B. mass shooting trial

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 24 Sep, 2020 06:42 PM
  • Eyewitnesses take stand in N.B. mass shooting trial

Norma Foster told a Fredericton courtroom Thursday that on the morning of Aug. 10, 2018, she woke up to gun shots.

The witness told jurors she called 911 and looked out her apartment window and saw two people checking the pulse of a man lying on the ground outside.

Foster, an eyewitness to the 2018 Fredericton mass shooting, took the stand Thursday in the murder trial of Matthew Raymond. The 50-year-old is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Donnie Robichaud, Bobbie Lee Wright and Fredericton police constables Robb Costello and Sara Burns.

She testified that a short time after she heard the shots, police arrived. Then, she said, she heard loud noises and saw Cst. Costello "fall down."

An emotional Foster said she told the dispatcher two officers had been shot.

Another eyewitness, Sarah Gould, sobbed as she testified how she woke to the sound of gunshots and looked out her sister's window. She said she saw a window screen on the ground, and after looking upward, saw the barrel of a gun sticking out a window.

Gould said police officers arrived a few minutes later and that she heard more bangs. "They got shot," she said, crying. "First the male went down, then the female."

Asked where the officers were shot, Gould pointed to her chest, referring to the male officer's wounds, and then pointed to her back to indicate where the female cop was shot.

Gould said she saw two people crouching by a car.

On Wednesday, jurors were told that the couple behind the car was Shawn Noble and Kendra Snodgrass.

Jurors were told the couple had seen a man laying on the ground and had gone outside to see if they could offer any assistance. They could find no pulse, and waited until police arrived. They ducked behind a car when the shooting resumed.

Also on Thursday, Martin Vezina testified that his girlfriend had gotten him out of bed that August morning after she heard what sounded like fireworks outside their apartment.

He said he looked out his living room window and saw what appeared to be the barrel of a gun sticking out a window. He then heard a loud bang and the sound of smashing glass. Vezina said he hit the floor and quickly crawled to a bedroom and barricaded himself inside.

A picture introduced as evidence in court shows a bullet hole through the living room window of Vezina's apartment.

Vezina said he heard at least 10 more shots. He said he remained in the apartment with his girlfriend and three children until police came and escorted them out.

The trial continues Thursday afternoon.

MORE National ARTICLES

RCMP at centre of facial recognition lawsuit

RCMP at centre of facial recognition lawsuit
A Quebec photographer wants a judge to order the RCMP to destroy all of the images of Canadians it obtained through a controversial facial-recognition tool.

RCMP at centre of facial recognition lawsuit

MacKay's campaign says no deal was cut to woo deputy party leader's endorsement

MacKay's campaign says no deal was cut to woo deputy party leader's endorsement
Peter MacKay's Conservative leadership campaign said Monday the party's deputy leader wasn't promised a similarly high-profile position in the House of Commons in exchange for supporting MacKay for the top job.

MacKay's campaign says no deal was cut to woo deputy party leader's endorsement

Sentries return to National War Memorial

Sentries return to National War Memorial
Military sentries are returning to their spots in front of the National War Memorial and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier as the threat posed by COVID-19 appears to be receding.

Sentries return to National War Memorial

StatCan probes pandemic hit to inflation

StatCan probes pandemic hit to inflation
Statistics Canada says Canadians' buying patterns changed so much during the COVID-19 pandemic that its measure of consumer inflation went a little wobbly.

StatCan probes pandemic hit to inflation

Police say Abbotsford, B.C., homicide targeted

Police say Abbotsford, B.C., homicide targeted
Investigators say a shooting that killed a 43-year-old man east of Vancouver on Friday night was likely targeted.

Police say Abbotsford, B.C., homicide targeted

PM: wage subsidy to be extended to December

PM: wage subsidy to be extended to December
The federal government is extending its program to subsidize wages in companies hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic until December, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday.

PM: wage subsidy to be extended to December