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The man accused of killing a Toronto police officer with a snowplow had a major feud with his family two weeks ago, friends told CBC News.
According to the friends, the feud plunged Richard Kachkar, 44, into depression and suicidal thoughts, CBC's John Lancaster reported.
"Friends said there was an incident, a breakup that may have plunged him into irreversible darkness," Lancaster said.
In a text message to CBC News, Kachkar's daughter Ashley, 18, said: "I understand what's going on … I know just as much as you do. All I can say is I have nothing to say."
Sgt. Ryan Russell, 35, died when he was struck while trying to stop a stolen snowplow-equipped truck being driven erratically through the city early Wednesday.
Kachkar, of no fixed address, was shot and arrested by police after an hour-long pursuit. He is in St. Michael's Hospital in downtown Toronto recovering from his injuries. He has been charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.
April Wojtowich, a long-time friend of Kachkar, said he had an on-and-off relationship with his family for the last five to six years. She said he loved his family and bounced between their home and a rundown store he owned in St. Catharines.
"He was rarely homeless or angry," Wojtowich said. "I never, ever knew him to show a sign of aggression or anger. He was just very intelligent. He always talked things out with people."
On Thursday, CBC News reported that Kachkar stayed at a homeless shelter the night before the police incident. A spokesman for the shelter said it was Kachkar's first time at the Good Shepherd and he didn't stand out from the other homeless men.
Transport Canada also confirmed to CBC News that Kachkar had some training in April 2009 to operate heavy machinery like snowplows and that he was being trained in a 13-week course.
"He did fine in heavy equipment. When it came time to truck driver training, ultimately he was not licensed. He didn’t pass the test in the end," said John Beaudry, president of Transport Training Centres of Canada.
Beudry said to a get a licence, a doctor has to sign off on it and there was no indication Kachkar was unstable.
"Only issues we had with him, he was a little bit difficult to communicate with. He would talk around in circles to get to a point. That’s all we have administratively on him," Beudry said.
Kachkar wasn't trained specifically on how to operate a snowplow, Beudry said.
"But with the other background, there a lot of transferable skills and you could walk over to any piece of equipment and figure out how to operate it."
Problems appeared to begin earlier for Kachkar. Roger Dubosq, a retired St. Catharines resident, sold him the building in St. Catharines in August.
Dubosq said Kachkar told him he hoped to open up a computer store. But when it came time for Kachkar to pay him on his second mortgage, Kachkar told Dubosq he lost all his money to his wife.
“He used to have a truck and then I only saw him on bikes. He had all kinds of ideas for that place, but all his dreams ended up failing,” said Dubosq.
Kachkar owed him $2,000 and Dubosq would drop by, trying to get the money from him. Kachkar would always tell Dubosq how his wife took everything from him.
