Wade Istchenko had barely sat down for his morning coffee with the fellows in September 2011 when a woman walked into the restaurant asking for their help.

The employee of Madley's General Store in Haines Junction told Istchenko and his two buddies the store custodian had been hurt, Istchenko testified Tuesday in the attempted murder case being tried by a Yukon Supreme Court jury.

Istchenko, who went on to become a territorial cabinet minister after the following month's election, said it couldn't have been much past 7 a.m. when he, John Jennings and Ralph Hotte drove the three blocks to Madley's and went inside to check things out.

"We hollered, ‘Frank, Frank, Frank!'” Istchenko recalled for the nine women and five men of the jury. "And we heard Frank yell from the back, ‘I'm OK, I'm OK!”

Christopher Cornell, 31, and Jessica Johnson, 22, were charged on Sept. 26, 2011 with using violence and pepper spray to steal a safe from Madley's earlier that day.

They were also charged with attempting to murder Haines Junction RCMP Cpl. Kim MacKellar and deputy conservation officer Shane Oakley by shooting a rifle at them during a high-speed chase.

Only Cornell is on trial. The trial began last week, and is scheduled to go for another week or two.

The jury and Justice Leigh Gower have heard how, early on Sept. 26, 2011, MacKellar and Oakley chased a black SUV from the front of Madley's down the Alaska Highway toward Destruction Bay.

The pursuit ended with an explosion of glass inside the cab of the marked RCMP truck, with blood dripping down the corporal's face, the jury has been told.

Jurors have also heard from an employee of Destruction Bay's Talbot Arms Motel who was on his way to Whitehorse.

During the trip, he and another employee in the passenger seat noticed an abandoned black SUV off the highway, about halfway to Haines Junction.

They stopped to see if anybody was hurt, but there was nobody in the vehicle. A short time later, Cornell and a woman walked out of the bush, with Cornell carrying a rifle.

The couple told the two Talbot Arm employees they were out hunting and had experienced vehicle trouble.

Cornell and the woman accepted a ride, and asked to be dropped off at the Pine Lake Campground, where the man's brother was said to be staying, the jury has heard.

Istchenko, now the MLA for Kluane, said he could see blood on the floor, he told the jury.

Istchenko said when custodian Frank Parent walked out from the back, he was distraught, his face and shirt were bloody, his eyes were blurry and he was constantly wiping his face.

There was a nurse at the scene, though she hadn't wanted to go into the store until she knew it was safe.

"She followed us in,” Istchenko testified.

Having been born and raised in Haines Junction, the 46-year-old Istchenko said he knew the layout of the store, he'd worked there, and his family had built it.

The three of them checked all the rooms before they went back outside, where there was a safe and pallet jack lying in the parking lot, the jury heard.

Istchenko testified Oakley had also arrived, driving MacKellar's battered Chevrolet Silverado police truck.

The driver's side window was smashed out, and the front windshield was shattered as though a rock had hit it, Istchenko said.

He said Oakley, who he's known since they were kids, was distraught.

Oakley told Istchenko he'd gone to help MacKellar on a high-speed chase.

Istchenko testified that after talking with Oakley for a while, he returned with Jennings and Hotte to the Glacier View Restaurant at about 7:30 a.m.

Istchenko testified he was there until a few minutes after 8:00 or 8:10 before he left.

Driving past the RCMP detachment, he saw Oakley sitting there in the truck, so he decided to stop to see how he was doing.

"When I talked to Shane, Shane said a bullet or something came through the window, smashed the radar detector and shrapnel went everywhere.”

Istchenko told the jury that as he was talking to Oakley, he saw his friend, Colin Asseltine, driving the white cube van from the Talbot Arms Motel with another man in the passenger's seat.

As Asseltine pulled up to the intersection to make the left-hand turn to Whitehorse at about 8:30 a.m., Oakley told Istchenko to stop him and ask him to come back and talk to the RCMP to see if he'd seen anything along the highway.

But as Istchenko ran toward the intersection not more than 100 metres away, Asseltine pulled away, the jury heard.

The future cabinet minister jumped into his truck and chased him down, flashing his headlights to signal him.

About four kilometres out of town, Asseltine pulled over, approximately one kilometre from the entrance to the Pine Lake Campground.

The jury heard how Istchenko and Asseltine got out and stood on the edge of the highway toward the rear of the cube van.

Istchenko said he asked Asseltine to turn around and return to the RCMP detachment because they wanted to talk to him.

"He said, ‘There are two people in the back with a gun, and they want to be dropped off at the Pine Lake Campground,' ” Istchenko testified.

Istchenko said he looked at Asseltine, and Asseltine looked like he was in shock a little.

He did not tell him about the shooting, only that the police wanted to talk to him.

Cornell then stuck his head out the window and said something Istchenko could not make out.

Istchenko testified Asseltine looked stressed, didn't want to talk very long and didn't want to stay there very long.

As he walked back to the cube van, Istchenko said, "Thanks for doing that for me, for picking up those parts in town.”

He turned around and drove back to the RCMP detachment, the jury heard Tuesday.

The jury has heard how Oakley was awakened Sept. 26, 2011 by the phone ringing at 6:12 a.m., with a neighbour leaving a message about two people breaking into her home.

After putting on a pair of boots and throwing his conservation officer jacket over his pajamas, Oakley went to the road of the Willow Acres country residential subdivision to have a look.

MacKellar, who lived right across the street, was also on the move, and Oakley ended up riding with him.

The jury has heard how a message came over the police radio that Madley's General Store was being broken into.

See related story below.