By Canadian Press

Jury deliberating at trial for suspect in Edmonton police officer stabbing

Oct 26, 2019 | 10:47 AM

EDMONTON — Jurors are deliberating in the trial for a man accused of stabbing a police officer and striking four pedestrians with a van.

Abdulahi Hasan Sharif, 32, has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges, including five counts of attempted murder, in the Sept. 30, 2017, attack.

“You are the sole judges of the facts,” Justice Paul Belzil told the five-woman, seven-man jury before it started deliberating Thursday morning.

During the trial, Const. Mike Chernyk testified that he was on traffic duty outside an Edmonton Eskimos football game when he was struck by a car. He next remembered a man on top of him, stabbing him in the head with a knife.

A woman and her boyfriend who were walking their dogs near the stadium said they heard a car rev its engine before it rammed into a barricade and the police officer.

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It’s alleged that after attacking the officer, Sharif struck and injured four pedestrians as he drove a speeding U-Haul van through Edmonton’s downtown.

The four told court about their memories of being hit and how they coped with broken bones, anxiety and depression.

The jury also heard from an undercover police officer who testified that Sharif detailed the attack in a holding cell the next morning.

“Mr. Sharif advised that he did something really bad … that last night was like a dream,” said the Mountie.

He said Sharif went on to detail the attack on Chernyk and how, as Sharif fled from police in the van, he hit several pedestrians.

The Crown argued during its closing statement Wednesday that Sharif went to extraordinary lengths to cause as much chaos and destruction as possible.

Sharif, who is not represented by a lawyer, declined to call any witnesses and did not testify in his own defence at the trial.

A lawyer appointed by the court to help him urged jurors to consider whether Sharif deliberately hit the pedestrians.

Belzil added Thursday that the attempted murder charges required the Crown to prove intent, while the dangerous driving charge did not.

“It’s your duty to consult with one another,” he said in his final instructions to the jury. “Each of you must make your own decision.”

However, he reminded jurors that the verdict must be unanimous.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Oct. 24, 2019.

Colette Derworiz, The Canadian Press