“It doesn’t get any harder than this, so we’re all in this together to support each other,” Booker’s dad, Barry Nosal, said Monday. Nosal described his son as gentle — the type of person who would give others the shirt off his back. “He was a good kid. I loved him. Everyone who knew him loved him and we all make mistakes. He made a mistake. I just don’t know if that mistake should have ended the way it did,” Nosal said. Booker died on Highway 1 about six hours after police first made contact with him. Police received a call at 1:10 a.m. CST about Booker allegedly making threats in his car in Moose Jaw. Police said Booker left that location, headed onto Highway 1 and drove off near Belle Plaine, about 40 kilometers west of Regina. Police alleged Booker pointed his gun at officers around 7 a.m. CST and said that when he did not comply, they shot him. Nosal wishes he had more information about what happened in the moments leading up to that shot. “If he was shouldering his gun, maybe he should, but [it’s] It’s very difficult to raise a gun in a Toyota Camry,” Nosal said. “I’m just curious what warranted the shooting before the shooting before I had a chance to talk to him.” Nosal said he tried to reach his son in the hours before his death and that he drove off on Highway 1 toward Belle Plaine and identified himself as Booker’s father to police, giving his number. He said he was told to park in town and wait. He grabbed a coffee at the gas station and waited what he thinks was about two hours. The police didn’t call. When they finally came to speak with him, it was to tell him that his son had died. “Maybe I’m wrong, but I can’t help but wonder if they’d give me a chance to talk to him,” Nosal paused, taking a moment to think. He said the tragic event that unfolded was atypical of his son’s usual behavior. “I just want to make it clear that it wasn’t him. It wasn’t him, he was a good guy. He was a fun guy and he had a bad night.” Ryan Booker was shot by a police officer on the highway near Belle Plaine, Sask. His father says Booker’s family is grieving. (Submitted by Barry Nosal) Nosal said his son was a loving brother, partner and dad who had many friends, was happy and was a “rockstar” engineer who excelled at his job. He said Booker was his hunting partner. He was a man who loved the outdoors and would walk for miles in search of deer.
Booker would have turned 27 on December 17. Nosal said his son may have been struggling with mental illness. “He told his mom that he felt useless. I didn’t know he was at that point, but I could have helped him. I think if I had a chance to step in, I could have helped him.” Regina SWAT and the RCMP Crisis Response Team were called to the scene, where RCMP say crisis negotiators attempted to verbally de-escalate the situation. The incident will be investigated by the Saskatoon Police Service, as its officers were not involved. The tragedy has left Nosal with countless questions. “It’s all going through my mind right now and I don’t want to blame anyone, and I’m sure the cop doesn’t feel too good about himself right now, but I’m the one who’s got the loss.” He said he was told by police that a drone was used during the incident and wonders if any of the incident was caught on video. Nosal said he hopes the outside investigation will reveal why he wasn’t called to somehow try to de-escalate the situation and why police fired.