An officer with the Winnipeg Police Service K-9 unit testified Monday morning about falling through the ice on the frozen Red River after a man accused of killing bus driver Irvine Jubal Fraser, 58, was arrested.

Brian Kyle Thomas, 24, has pleaded not guilty to second degree murder.

A jury is hearing evidence in the case.

Const. Justin Casavant told court he and police dog Banner got dispatched to a stabbing incident at the University of Manitoba in the early morning hours of Feb. 14, 2017.

Const. Casavant testified he and Banner went to the bank of the Red River in pursuit of a suspect.

“There is fresh tracks leading out on to the ice,” Casavant testified. “That’s when I observe a suspect about two-thirds of the way across the river.”

He told court the suspect was walking away from him.

“At that point I yell out something to the effect of ‘Stop. Police K9.’”

He testified the suspect went down either on purpose or from slipping on the ice and other officers assisted with the arrest.

After the arrest, Casavant testified he returned to his cruiser to put police dog Banner inside before Casavant returned to the river to search for evidence.

The jury heard once Casavant got back to the east bank after crossing the river his flashlight died. While trying to return to the west shore using his iPhone for illumination, Casavant testified he fell through the ice.

“I end up breaking through the ice...completely through the ice,” Casavant testified. “I end up falling in up to my armpits.”

“I panicked. I was able to, almost like a seal, slide myself up onto the ice.”

The jury heard Casavant was pulled off the ice by other officers and received medical attention in an ambulance.

“I consider myself very lucky I didn’t get pulled in,” Casavant told court.

Jurors heard Casavant returned to the riverbank the next afternoon for further investigation.

He testified on the afternoon of Feb. 15, 2017 he found a bit of blood in an area about 100 feet up the river bank where it looks like someone had dropped to their knees.

During cross-examination by Thomas’s lawyer Evan Roitenberg, Casavant testified crossing the river would be more difficult for someone who is impaired by the ice conditions.

The jury heard officers, including Casavant, would’ve trampled through the area where the blood was found when Casavant was rescued from the ice.

Suspect’s hands bloody: officer testifies

A second witness in the trial on Monday, Const. Daniel Carriere, testified he was the officer who arrested the suspect on the ice.

“I did notice that his hands were bloody and there was blood on his right ear,” Const. Carriere told court.

The jury also heard from a third officer Monday morning, Christopher St. Croix, a member of the Winnipeg Police Service’s major crimes unit, who testified he found a knife with a five-inch silver blade and black handle on the east bank of the Red River at 11:55 a.m. on Apr.17, 2017—more than two months after Fraser’s death.

St. Croix told the jury he found the knife near the base of a tree but he could not remember the exact location of the tree when asked by Thomas’s lawyers.

The trial has previously heard it is an agreed fact the knife contained no material for DNA analysis and cannot be linked to either Thomas or Fraser through DNA evidence.

The trial continues.