Better training for staff selling firearms and a better process for booking mental-health appointments are among the recommendations being made by a B.C. jury that examined a 2016 police shooting.
The coroners inquest probed the November 2016 death of Daniel Rintoul, who attacked and stabbed a staff member, tried to steal a gun from a gun case and took a hostage at an east Vancouver Canadian Tire.
The 38-year-old, nearly six-foot, 350-pound man was shot nine times after repeatedly stabbing one of the officers who was trying to arrest him.
One of the jury’s recommendations calls for a review of how appointments to mental health clinics are scheduled and says appointments should be set up before a patient is discharged from hospital. The jury says retail staff selling firearms should be given emergency preparedness training and weapons cases should be impenetrable.
The jury heard emotional testimony from two officers on scene, including the one who was stabbed, and it recommends Vancouver police review mental health supports for its members.