Politicians and police are remaining tight-lipped on the possibility of consequences for Vancouver officers implicated in the death of Myles Gray, deemed a homicide by jurors in a B.C. coroner’s inquest on Monday.
Gray died in August 2015 after a severe beating by seven Vancouver police officers that left him with injuries including hemorrhaging in his testicles and fractures in his eye socket, nose, voice box and rib. The outcome of the coroner’s inquest, however, carries no finding of legal responsibility.
“First of all I do want to put out there that it was an incredibly tragic situation that happened and our hearts and our thoughts go out to Mr. Gray’s family, his loved ones, his friends,” Mayor Ken Sim, who chairs the Vancouver Police Board, said Tuesday.
“We will support the recommendations, all three recommendations, and in fact we’ve basically supported some of those recommendations before they even became recommendations.”
In addition to their finding of homicide, the five-member inquest jury recommended three measures to prevent similar deaths in the future.
They recommended speedy implementation of body-worn cameras for frontline Vancouver police officers, a review and enhancement of police crisis de-escalation training, and a review of toxicology sample procedures with consideration that such samples be keep until the completion of all investigative activities.
Sim’s council approved the use of cameras for Vancouver police in December, with the goal of equipping all patrol officers by 2025. Before committing to expediting that process, or outlining any details for the implementation of the other recommendations, he said he must first discuss them with his Vancouver Police Board colleagues.
The Vancouver Police Department declined an interview request for this story, but in a tweet, Chief Const. Adam Palmer said Gray’s death had a “profound and lasting impact on everyone involved.” The force is reviewing recommendations from the inquest carefully, he added.
“These recommendations build on processes that are currently in lace or are substantially underway,” he said.
“We believe all police officers should have access to the most up-to-date training on crisis de-escalation and mental health, and we are currently implementing a pilot program to equip all front-line officers with body-worn cameras in the near future.”
His statement expressed condolences to Gray’s family, but did not offer an apology for the role of police in his death.
Dr. Matthew Orde, the pathologist who performed the autopsy on Gray’s body, testified at the inquest that Gray died of a cardiac arrest complicated by police actions, pointing specifically to “neck compression,” blunt force injuries, the use of pepper spray, forcing Gray onto his stomach and handcuffing him behind his back.
One paramedic told the inquest he arrived at the scene and saw bruising so severe, he initially thought Gray was not a white man.
A years-long investigation by B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office’s (IIO) ultimately found reasonable grounds to believe police may have committed an offence during Gray’s arrest, and submitted a report to the BC Prosecution Service for consideration of charges.
In 2020, however, the service announced it would not pursue charges, citing a lack of evidence a crime was committed and no witnesses beyond the officers involved in the struggle.
A separate discipline proceeding is ongoing in connection to Gray’s death which could result in the dismissal of those officers, all of whom remain on active duty. The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner has said there is no timeline for when a decision must be made, and Vancouver police have previously said they will not comment on the inquest while that process is underway.
According to the B.C. Prosecution Service, a second charge assessment on the case would only happen if police resubmit the file to the service for charge assessment.
“If the police have additional evidence that did not form part of the materials submitted to the BC Prosecution Service when the file was originally submitted for charge assessment, the police can resubmit the file to Crown Counsel for charge assessment,” Ann Seymour, Crown Counsel on policy and justice issues, explained by email.
Asked about possible charges for the officers linked to Gray’s death, Attorney General Niki Sharma said the prosecution service operates independently from the government, but that she and Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth are taking the inquest’s recommendations seriously.
“Of course when it comes to police oversight there are mechanisms like the IIO that we fund, and we’ve increased funding for to make sure that it’s operating properly,” she told Global News.
“My job is to make sure the system has the tools it needs.”
Monday’s homicide finding was not unanimous, with four of five jurors supporting it.
Farnworth called the jury’s homicide finding “absolutely shocking.” Asked whether a public inquiry may be ordered in Gray’s death, he said the province is focused on the inquest’s recommendations and reforms to the B.C. Police Act.
Now that the death has been ruled a homicide, however, the director of B.C.’s civilian-led police watchdog said it will consider reopening an investigation with an eye for possible recommendation of charges.
“We will want to obtain transcripts so that we have, a firm record of what that evidence is — but we are going to go through that process and we’ll be considering the evidence and what impact, if any, it has on the file moving forward,” IIO Chief Civilian Director Ron MacDonald told Global News.
“We certainly are aware of evidence that was heard last week on a couple of different days that was different than what we had been familiar with before. The real question is, what impact will that have and that’s the assessment we have to engage in at this time.”
Gray, 33, was making a delivery to a florists’ supply shop in Vancouver as part of his business on the Sunshine Coast on the day that he died. Witnesses said he swore at and sprayed a woman with a garden hose while shirtless, before walking in circles, yelling, and running into the street.
Police then responded to a 911 call about an agitated man.
The officers who testified at the inquest often used similar language to describe Gray’s behaviour, saying he was grunting and yelling in an “animalistic” way. They said he displayed “superhuman strength” and didn’t seem to be feeling any pain as they punched him in the head and struck him with their batons.
Years ago, Orde, the pathologist, had listed “excited delirium” among the possible contributing factors in Gray’s death. Many of the 14 police officers who testified at the inquest also used the contentious term describing a state of agitation.
During his own testimony, however, Orde revised that finding, saying published data and research suggest it’s “quite unlikely” that so-called excited delirium syndrome could independently result in someone’s death. “Acute behavioural disturbance” is a better description of what Gray was experiencing on Aug. 13, 2015, he said.
Another new finding of the inquest came from a forensic toxicologist. An initial drug screening report suggested Gray had a plant-based psychoactive compound in his system when he died, but Aaron Shapiro testified last week that follow-up testing revealed a concentration that didn’t meet the threshold for detection.
Gray’s family maintains he was experiencing a mental health crisis that police failed to treat with patience and compassion. Gray was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1999, but his sister testified in court that he had been stable ever since.
His parents, Mark and Margie Gray, filed a civil lawsuit in 2016 against the City of Vancouver, the VPD, the police board and nearly a dozen unnamed officers. They haven’t yet had a conversation about how to proceed with the existing civil suit, Margie said Tuesday, but she assumes the family will proceed with it.
In an interview with Global News, she said it was a “relief” to hear her son’s death classified as a homicide, and to have the family’s story broadcast for all to see. She also condemned the language officers used to describe her son in the inquest, including use of words like “demonic” and “animalistic.”
“They could not have dehumanized him any more. I thought that was absolutely appalling and disgusting. Very, very hurtful. It was atrocious,” she said.
“I would like to see (a criminal investigation) reopened for sure,” she added. “I have always fought for independent prosecution to review Myles’ files.”
Meanwhile, Margie said the officers who beat her son should be taken “off the streets into the disciplinary procedure,” calling them “ultra-violent” and “not equipped” to deal with mental health issues.
— with files from The Canadian Press