The B.C. Coroners Service has called an inquest into the death of a 52-year-old man who was shot and killed by Vancouver police in 2012 outside a McDonald’s restaurant at Hastings and Cassiar.
The inquest, which begins July 7, comes 10 months after the Independent Investigations Office cleared a Vancouver Police Department officer of any wrongdoing in the Oct. 29, 2012 shooting death of Christopher Ray.
Barbara McLintock, a spokesperson for the coroners service, said the inquest was called because the mandate of the agency is different than that of the investigations’ office, which can recommend charges to Crown counsel.
“We’re a fact-finding agency, not a fault-finding agency,” McLintock told the Courier.
Ray was killed after police responded to a report in the 400-block of Skeena Street of a man behaving erratically, including cracking the window in the lobby of a condominium complex and striking vehicles.
The report from the investigations’ office said an officer shot Ray twice after he advanced on him “in what seemed to be a sprint.” After Ray fell to the ground outside the restaurant, the officer found a Leatherman multi-tool knife on the ground next to Ray.
Several witness accounts revealed the officer repeatedly told Ray to stay back and keep away. One witness told investigators Ray was running “with his hand stretched out, like the guy was going to go and try to stab the cop.”
One witness, who was interviewed 18 days after the shooting, said she observed the incident from across the street, which occurred about 8:30 p.m.
“She appeared to suggest that she did not see a reason for Mr. Ray to have been shot,” wrote Richard Rosenthal, the Chief Civilian Director of the investigations’ office. “She also made comments, however, which suggested that she was not certain of her own observations.”
The officer had a beanbag shotgun in a police van when he arrived at the scene. But, he explained, the incident escalated too fast for him to grab the shotgun, which police often resort to when dealing with suspects difficult to restrain.
“Under the circumstances, the officer was in harm’s way and lawfully used deadly force to defend himself,” Rosenthal wrote.
Police administered CPR to Ray at the scene before paramedics transported him to Vancouver General Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 9:14 p.m. He is survived by family and friends, including a daughter, grandson and sister.
Coroner Chico Newell will preside over the inquest at the coroners court in Burnaby. Although the jury cannot make any findings of legal responsibility, it can make recommendations aimed at preventing future deaths under similar circumstances.
