Inquest into fatal police shootings in 2019 standoff offers recommendations
An inquest jury looking into the police shooting deaths of a man and the woman he was holding hostage has recommended that events involving the emergency response team be recorded with both video and audio.
The recommendation is one of seven that came on Thursday following the inquest into the deaths of Randy Crosson and Nona McEwan in March 2019 in Surrey.
The jury also recommended the Public Safety Ministry offer extended training to probation officers in mental health disorders and addictions, and create partnerships with health authorities.
When reading their recommendation that events involving emergency response team members be “captured by audio, visual and other means,” the jury foreperson said the suggestion was based on testimony from police and the Independent Investigations Office, which said recordings would be beneficial.
The jury recommended inquests be done in a timely manner. The foreperson said they heard testimony that the five-year wait following Crosson and McEwan's deaths was “too long.”
It was recommended RCMP ensure the emergency response team have access to explosives without delay and positions be created for full-time hostage negotiators.
The final recommendation was for 911 call takers to be trained to play back calls related to critical incidents to crisis negotiation teams.
The jury heard from several officers involved in the more than nine-hour standoff, which ended with police shooting and killing both Crosson and McEwan.
RCMP went to the home after reports of a loud bang and a scream, and arrived believing that a man inside had a gun. They would spend hours trying to get a response from anyone inside the home.
The jury heard Crosson had a criminal record dating back to 1996, including break-ins, theft, assault, carrying a weapon and more. In 2003, he was convicted of assaulting McEwan and released on a two-year probation order.
The jury was told Crosson had used drugs since his late teens and was diagnosed as bipolar.
Officers testified that on March 29, 2019, Crosson was heard giving a one-hour deadline before he would kill McEwan, and very soon after shortened that to five minutes.
An emergency response team stormed the bedroom where Crosson was holding McEwan.
In the flurry of bullets that killed Crosson, McEwan was struck twice, in the arm and in the abdomen. She died on the way to the hospital.
Officers testified that when they entered the room, Crosson was lying on a bed with McEwan held against him as a human shield. He had a knife to her throat and a gun in his other hand, they told the jury.
A report from the IIO cleared officers of any wrongdoing. It said investigators found “a realistic-looking replica pistol” at the scene.
Police on the scene, including hostage negotiators, testified at the inquest that they believed Crosson was potentially volatile and violent after his relationship with McEwan ended and he was told to leave the house.
The jury heard a mental health expert working with the police believed Crosson wanted to die.