A coroners inquest is underway into the deaths of two people shot by police during a hostage-taking in Surrey more than five years ago.
Nona Marnie McEwan, 45, and Randy E. Crosson, 48, suffered fatal gunshot wounds when police breached a home in a cul de sac near 133 Street in Surrey on March 29, 2019.
Crosson holding McEwan captive at the time, the inquest has heard.
Family of both McEwan and Crosson were present at the coroner’s court on Tuesday.
Unable to hold back a flood of tears, McEwan’s son Brandon McEwan took the stand where he said the RCMP were supposed to be “trained professionals.”
“Didn’t seem that professional in my eyes,” he said.
“This is life-changing. It affected everybody. My little sister lost both her parents.”
Brandon was the person who lodged the initial 911 call to say his mother was in the house with her boyfriend, who may have a gun.
The inquest heard that Crosson had an outstanding warrant for breach of probation at the time.
It also heard from an RCMP officer who testified that witnesses later told police they’d heard a loud bang and scream coming from the home.
The jury heard about Crosson’s bipolar diagnosis, suicide attempts and long criminal history including violence against McEwan and convictions for carrying a knife and gun.
Proceedings began Tuesday with a statement written by Crosson’s son Jamie Perrin, who said his father had lived a difficult life with few opportunities to get better and treat addiction issues.
“What you were about to hear is about a man on drugs, struggling with life,” the statement read. “This was not my dad.”
Perrin went on to state his father was a caring person who loved his children, and that he hoped the inquest would help provide closure for him and his siblings.
Scheduled witnesses include officers who had interactions with the pair, first responders and others who knew them.
The Lower Mainland Emergency Response Team had been called to the home around 10 p.m., leading to a 10-hour standoff before police moved in.
According to a report from the Independent Investigations Office, Crossont had been heard yelling, “It’s a good day to die” around 3 a.m., and was recorded in a 911 call saying, “You tell those pigs to get the f–k away from my house or I will start killing people.”
The watchdog’s report concluded police had breached the home after Crosson threatened to kill his hostage within an hour, and found him holding a knife to her throat and appeared to have a pistol when they entered.
The IIO concluded that officers had acted lawfully during a dangerous hostage-taking and that the woman’s death was an accident precipitated by a crisis “deliberately created” by her assailant.
Legal experts and more than two dozen witnesses are slated to testify to a coroner’s jury in Burnaby throughout the week to try and better understand the circumstances leading up to their deaths.
Inquests do not assign guilt or fault but serve to determine the facts around a death, including how, where, and by what means a person died, while making recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future.
Under B.C. law, inquests are mandatory when someone dies while being detained by a peace officer.
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