WARNING: This article contains information related to death by suicide.
There needs to be paramedics at the ready in incidents involving armed suspects, a coroners inquest in Nanaimo has determined.
The B.C. Coroners Service concluded an inquest in Nanaimo on Tuesday, Nov. 19, examining the death of Jer Wood, 39, who died of a gunshot wound during a police incident at Departure Bay ferry terminal on May 8, 2018. The jury rendered its recommendations Nov. 19.
In a recommendation to B.C. RCMP's commanding officer and the chief ambulance officer of Emergency Health Services B.C., the jury stated they should "consider co-ordinating the staging of advanced-care paramedics in operations, instead of primary-care paramedics, involving planned apprehensions where the subject may be armed."
According to testimony from Sgt. Paul Minkley, Vancouver Island Emergency Response Team commander, there wasn't a pre-staged ambulance during the incident, but practices have since changed. In addition, team members have received expanded medical training.
Minkley also testified that the response team consisted of plainclothes officers and team members and the jury recommended that the B.C. RCMP's commanding officer "expedite setting up regional-based, full-time ERT teams including on Vancouver Island and continue to supplement the teams with ERT-trained part-time members.
In testimony Nov. 12, it was revealed that Wood had shot a drug dealer in the Okanagan, and that police reports from Penticton informed Nanaimo law enforcement that Wood had failed at one carjacking attempt before taking a hatchback from a senior after choking and assaulting her.
At Departure Bay ferry terminal, police intercepted the hatchback as it was disembarking and deployed a flashbang grenade. The hatchback veered to the left, contacting police vehicles, and the suspect vehicle became stationary, facing law enforcement.
Minkley testified he had sight of the driver-side window of the hatchback and saw the driver raising what looked like a pistol with a long barrel. Minkley thought the gun was pointed at other members and the ERT leader said he was preparing to shoot at the driver to prevent him from shooting anyone else. However, Wood then pointed the gun to the side of his own head, shot himself and then slumped. As the sergeant was processing the situation, he heard shots coming from his left, into the windshield of the suspect vehicle. Minkley ordered members to stop shooting and police approached, removed the suspect from the vehicle and performed first aid.
Wood had been suffering depression and didn’t plan on being arrested, according to previous testimony. That information had not been relayed to Nanaimo police, according to the sergeant.
“With that knowledge, and the previous knowledge of what had happened in Penticton, we still would have endeavoured to stop him, arrest him and we would have done it in this manner, so that situation would have unfolded whether we had that information or not,” Minkley said.
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. absolved police of any wrongdoing in Wood’s death in the months subsequent to the incident.
Speaking at the first day of the inquest, Sharon Smallwood, Wood’s mother, described her son as “charming, magnetic and caring,” and said he suffered a back injury which required “a very heavy dose of opioids.” After medication was discontinued, he resorted to street drugs, she said. Smallwood said Wood was also dealing with a workers’ compensation claim and was depressed and frustrated as a result.
Relaying information from police, Smallwood testified that her son knew his life was ending, because he was unable to overcome addiction, and he went after drug dealers with a gun. He met one dealer and shot him, she said, but the dealer did not die. Wood subsequently fled and came to Nanaimo, where he had friends.
The B.C. Coroners Act mandates inquests for incidents in which people die when being detained or while in the custody of law enforcement.
The inquest was presided over by coroner Larry Marzinzik and a jury at Nanaimo courthouse. Steve Liu served as inquest counsel, while David Kwan and Graham Hallson were counsel for the Attorney General of Canada, attending on behalf of the RCMP. The inquest began Nov. 12 and witness testimony concluded Monday, Nov. 18.
The goal of the inquest was not to find guilt, but rather for transparency, to determine facts related to the death and for recommendations to prevent similar deaths from happening in the future.
