VICE DETECTIVE WEPT AFTER KILLING DRUG DEALER

A WINNIPEG vice detective shed tears for the second day in a row
yesterday as he told an inquest how he held a fellow officer and wept
after killing a known drug dealer during a house raid.

Abe Hiebert, 60, died from a single shot to the chest.

As Det. Sgt. Leonard Small recounted the Dec. 16, 1997, shooting,
Hiebert's daughter, Angela Nichols, also shed tears as she and her
husband sat in the front row of the courtroom, listening intently to
the testimony.

After the shooting, Small was sent home for a week and attended
counselling with a police psychologist to help him cope with the trauma.

He was subsequently cleared by an internal police investigation, but
decided to transfer to the commercial crime unit.

Yesterday, Small testified he didn't want to kill Hiebert, who was
swinging a bat as he moved toward Const. Harold Schlamp. The inquest
has heard Schlamp, who tried to squeeze through a peeled-back rear
door of the Dufferin Avenue home, had been blinded by pepper spray and
his head was within striking distance of Hiebert's bat.

"I was pleading with him (Hiebert) to drop the bat and he wasn't,"
said Small, 42.

Small said he pointed the pistol toward Hiebert and as he pulled the
trigger he heard a sickening click as the weapon misfired. He racked
the gun to load another round in the chamber and fired again.

Despite his police training, where he was taught to fire twice into
the upper body and once into the head -- in case the suspect was
wearing body armour -- Small testified he fired once, aiming toward
Hiebert's upper chest to prevent from hitting him in the heart.

That was enough to stop Hiebert, who fell backwards onto the kitchen
floor.

After the shooting, Small testified, he went into shock.

He couldn't dial his cell phone to call the dispatcher. His hand
wouldn't work as he tried to make notes in his book.

Small, who was charged and cautioned at the scene for possible
attempted murder or careless use of a firearm, was later taken back to
the Public Safety Building where he and the other members of the vice
unit were fed pizza and soda pop as photographs and evidence were gathered.

Small provided his own statement a few days later.

In the only contradicting evidence given so far in the first four days
of testimony, Small testified he believed Schlamp was crouching
outside the door as Hiebert came at him with a bat.

Previous testimony has indicated the officer was hung up in the
doorway and unable to free himself.