The family of Elmvale man Douglas Minty – shot and killed by police in 2009 – isn’t buying testimony they heard at an inquest today.

The inquest into the shooting heard testimony from a salesman who called 911, but Minty’s family says the picture that testimony painted of the man doesn’t add up.

David Parker made the initial 911 call.  He was a door-to-door salesman, and five years ago he was selling water heaters on Minty's street in Elmvale.

Parker testified he had gone into the Minty home to look at their water heater. He testified he noticed a hairline crack in one of the pipes.  He said, “The pipe was broken when I got there and I moved it.”

After Parker left, he testified, he was worried about the Minty family's safety, and decided to go back to the house to alert them that there could be a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Parker said when he knocked on the door the second time, Douglas Minty charged through the door and hit him four or five times. Parker then called 911.

The 911 transcript reads:

Q: Who assaulted you?

A: Some guy in the house. I'm a door to door sales rep and I knocked on the door and then the guy punched me in the face.

Parker then testified he told Minty he had called the police. He said Minty responded: “That's fine I'll kill them too.”

Family members say that kind of answer wouldn't be typical for Douglas Minty.

“He would speak to us in sentences occasionally, often his responses were one word,” says his brother John Minty. “Maybe a phrase but you wouldn't be able to understand him. He wasn't going to speak clearly and it would come across as being mumbled.”

The family lawyer says he questions just how far away Parker was from Minty when Minty made the alleged threat and wonders if he could have really heard what Minty said.

“The position this gentleman was in,” says Julian Roy. “He was more than 60 feet away so perhaps he misheard.”

Parker also testified he saw Minty approach the police officer with a knife before Minty was fatally shot, saying, “One thing I will never forget is the glint of that metallic object and knowing for sure it was a knife.”

But Roy isn't so sure about what Parker saw.

“He did describe seeing a blade,” Roy says. “But the blade he described was completely inconsistent with the blade that we know was in Mr. Minty's hand.”

The inquiry resumes on Wednesday, when it's expected the police officers involved in the incident will take the stand to testify.