George Arlooktoo could not have survived stab wounds, pathologist says

The lead police officer on the day George Alooktoo stabbed himself and later died testified Wednesday that the Kimmirut man had threatened to kill himself more than 12 times as officers tried to coax him from his home so he could see a mental health professional.

On Feb. 9, 2019, 28-year-old Arlooktoo threatened suicide multiple times after having allegedly stabbed his partner the night before.

“We made a decision to attend George’s house,” Sgt. Dustin Grant said during the third day of a coroner’s inquest into Arlooktoo’s death in Kimmirut six years ago.

“We’d have to deal with the mental health components first because George had made suicidal comments to multiple people,” Grant testified.

“[We intended to] bring him down to the health centre for some followup treatment, and then if he ends up being released, we’ll deal with the criminal aspect that occurred earlier…”

During an hour-long standoff, Arlooktoo told Grant he was afraid of going back to jail. He also said he had been sexually assaulted but didn’t specify where or when it happened.

Grant was not sure whether the two were connected. Arlooktoo did not expand on what he meant. 

During Tuesday’s testimony, Arlooktoo’s aunt, Levee Arlooktoo, said her nephew was “terrified” of going back to jail because something bad had happened to him there.

The RCMP officers eventually forced their way into the home. Arlooktoo ran to the washroom, grabbed a hunting knife and immediately began stabbing himself in the neck, Grant said.

Grant fired his stun gun — a Taser —  in an attempt to stop Arlooktoo, but it did not work. The taser, which releases a jolt of electricity to immobilize someone, didn’t work because it wasn’t able to penetrate his coat, Grant said.

Within seconds, Arlooktoo collapsed and the police officers tried to stop the bleeding with their bare hands. The two officers and a friend of Arlooktoo drove him to the health centre, less than two minutes away.

Grant took most of the day to testify at the inquest that began Monday and was scheduled for five days.

The purpose of a coroner’s inquest is to examine the circumstances around a death and have the jury make recommendations aimed at preventing deaths in similar situations.

The Nunavut coroner’s office provided Nunatsiaq News with a Zoom link to follow the proceedings remotely.

On Wednesday afternoon, forensic pathologist Dr. Alfredo Walker described the cause of death as multiple stab wounds to the neck. He performed the autopsy on Feb. 19, 2019 in Ottawa.

“Eleven separate stab-wounds were described on the front of the neck,” Walker said. Four of the wounds were “non-survivable” hitting major arteries that provide up to 70 per cent of oxygenated blood to the brain. 

“Any damage to one of those two arteries in that period is a significant injury with respect to the restriction of blood flow to the brain,” Walker said.

It is impossible to predict how quickly someone would die with the same injury, but the person would be “almost immediately incapacitated,” Walker said.

“[Even] if the injury had been sustained right outside … the emergency department of the Ottawa Hospital general campus, with head and neck surgeons, vascular surgeons all prepped and ready to go, Mr. Arlooktoo would not have survived. He would not have lived,” Walker said.