RCMP officer phoned cop who shot Don Dunphy to 'comfort' him during shooting investigation

An RCMP officer who was one of the first at the scene of the April 2015 police-shooting death of Don Dunphy in Mitchells Brook said he called the RNC officer who shot Dunphy to '"see how he was doing" just days after the incident.

Cpl. Trevor O' Keefe says he made the call while he was on duty on April 10.

I guess it was comforting.- Cpl. Trevor O'Keefe

"I said I wasn't calling as investigator. I said I was just calling to see how you are doing. I wasn't aware RCMP was investigating Smyth," said O'Keefe on Thursday.

Const. Joe Smyth, 38, had fatally shot Don Dunphy, 59, days earlier on Easter Sunday. Smyth was at Dunphy's home that day to investigate social media posts Smyth called "disconcerting." The tweets written by Dunphy criticized then-premier Paul Davis and other MHA's.

Smyth testified at the inquiry into the shooting that he had no choice but to fire his pistol four times after Dunphy pointed a 22-calibrerifle at him.

Appropriate call?

Commission counselKate O'Brien asked O'Keefe Thursday morning if he believedhis call to Smyth was appropriate.

"Maybe it wasn't but I just wanted him to know that somebody cared. I guess it was comforting " he testified.

O'Brien then asked, "Would you have made that call if he wasn't a police officer?"

"Probably not," responded O'Keefe.

"Did you call Dunphy's daughter, Meghan?" asked O'Brien.

'No," responded O'Keefe.

When pressed by O'Brien, O'Keefe agreed that he sees now that he should not have called Smyth on April 10, as the RCMP was investigating Smyth and the shooting at the time that he phoned.

O'Keefe was one of the first RCMP officers to arrive at the scene of the shooting. He acknowledged thatpolice failed to fully secure the scene. He is also the officer who told Meghan Dunphy that her father was dead.

O'Keefefailedto keep good notes: ASIRT

In her testimony at the inquiry, Meghan Dunphysaid O'Keefe told her that her father wason the floor with a gun beside him.

On Thursday,O'Keefe testified that Don Dunphy was sitting upright in a chair with a rifle in frontof him, when he found him. O'Keefe denied he said what MeghanDunphy testified she was told.

"I absolutely did not make those comments," he said.

O'Keefe was criticized in a report written by the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team. ASIRT was brought in to assess the RCMP's investigation of the shooting.

ASIRT'sreport said O'Keefefailed to keep good notes of his involvement in the investigation.

Inquiry continues Thursday

The inquiry into Don Dunphy's death continues Thursday afternoon in St. John's, with more testimony fromone of the police officers who investigated the shooting.

RCMP Cpl. Trevor O'Keefe began his testimony late Wednesday afternoon, and is expected to answer further questions today.

• 'Facts shrouded in twisted interpretation': Const. Joe Smyth lashes out at retired Judge Riche

Sgt.. Dion Foote, another RCMPofficer, is also expected to testify on Thursday.

The RCMP investigation into the shooting found Smyth had used "appropriate force" to defend himself.

Follow developments at the inquiry in our live blog.