Inquest into N.W.T. police shooting death wraps up

A coroner's jury in Yellowknife heard the final arguments this morning at the inquest into Karen Lander's death.

The inquiry looked at the circumstances which led up to Lander's death at the hands of RCMP last year. She was shot by three different RCMP officers after coming out of her house holding a gun.

On Tuesday, a police "use of force" expert testified that police are trained to fire their weapons when someone points a gun at them.

Lander's sister and daughter also testified. They said that they wished police had contacted family during the armed standoff to offer Lander support.

The jury is not there to assign blame. The five women and one man can make recommendations to prevent similar deaths.

The coroners counsel, Sheldon Toner,said the jury must classify the death as natural, accidental, homicide or suicide.Toner added that when considering if her death was a suicide, the jury has to weigh factors such as whether Lander intended to kill herself when she walked toward police with a rifle.

Toner said jurors can't make the assumption that Lander intended to kill herselfbecause she had said she wanted to die.

Toner also suggested 12 recommendations which could prevent future deaths. Those include giving income support clients more notice if they are getting their rent reduced after children are apprehended, as well as having a psychiatric nurse working in the emergency room, and more training for the RCMP.

Jurors will consider the recommendations lawyers proposed and make their own.

CBC North's Elizabeth McMillan has been reporting from the inquest. Follow her tweets below.