A young woman who lived downstairs in a Whalley home rented by Nona McEwan told a coronersa国际传媒檚 inquest Tuesday that the shooting victimsa国际传媒檚 boyfriend Randy Crosson, who was also shot dead by police, sa国际传媒渨asnsa国际传媒檛 a nice person.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淗e terrorized me, quite frankly.sa国际传媒�
She told the inquest Crosson sa国际传媒渨as always yelling and he was up all night-doing weird things.sa国际传媒�
The inquest into the deaths of the Surrey couple killed by police during a hostage-taking in Whalley on March 29, 2019 opened April 16 in Burnaby at Coronerssa国际传媒� Court, on the 20th floor of Metrotower II, with Coroner Margaret Janzen presiding.
A Surrey-based police watchdog sa国际传媒� the Independent Investigations Office sa国际传媒� in 2020 found the RCMPsa国际传媒檚 Emergency Response Team (ERT) blameless in the shooting deaths of Nona Marnie McEwan, 45, and her boyfriend Crosson, 48, whom authorities say was holding McEwan against her will in her rented home. The standoff saw roughly two dozen police vehicles, as well as an armoured vehicle, surround a home in a cul-de-sac near 132A Street and 100A Avenue.
McEwan was killed when she was struck by two police bullets as ERT officers fired on Crosson, who held a large knife to her throat and had sa国际传媒渨hat appeared to besa国际传媒� a gun in his hand. Forensic police later found a sa国际传媒渞ealistic-lookingsa国际传媒� replica pistol between the bed and the wall. Crosson was pronounced dead at the scene and McEwan died in hospital.
The tenant, who lived at the house for nine months, said her father phoned her, saying sa国际传媒淭heresa国际传媒檚 a helicopter at your house, are you OK?sa国际传媒� but she wasnsa国际传媒檛 home at the time.
sa国际传媒淚 really liked Nona,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淪he was firstly very kind and she was extremely caring to everyone that was in her lifesa国际传媒 saw her as a motherly figure, she really cared about all of our well-being.sa国际传媒�
Surrey Police Service Sgt. Chris Payete, who in 2019 was a Surrey RCMP corporal road supervisor, said he responded to a dispatch call at roughly 10 p.m. about a man with a gun. He said the information sa国际传媒渄idnsa国际传媒檛 seem realisticsa国际传媒� but police later found on their database an outstanding warrant for Crossonsa国际传媒檚 arrest.
sa国际传媒淩andy is known to have guns and use them, albeit on birds.sa国际传媒�
Payete said police tried to phone into the house, but the calls werensa国际传媒檛 answered.
sa国际传媒淭here was no noise from the house at all,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淐omplete silence.sa国际传媒�
They then used the public address system on a police vehicle. Still no response from within the house, the police then sa国际传媒渂angedsa国际传媒� on the side of the house. sa国际传媒淭here was a real possibility there was nobody inside.sa国际传媒�
Because of the report about a gun, and possible gunshot heard, the ERT was called in, Payette said, and they sa国际传媒渁rrive in waves,sa国际传媒� with negotiators in tow. By this time roughly 90 minutes had passed.
Asked if theresa国际传媒檚 anything he thinks could have been done differently, resulting in a different outcome, Payette said he was spent sa国际传媒渃onsiderablesa国际传媒� time pondering that question over the past five years. sa国际传媒淭his was obviously one of the more difficult nights in my career and Isa国际传媒檓 on the low, very, very low end of being impacted by this. It would have been really great to know the real, the truth of how this started earlier on in the incidentsa国际传媒� related to the possible gunshot or scream.
The IIO concluded McEwan died because of Crossonsa国际传媒檚 actions, as he held her against her will in her home, threatened her life, sa国际传媒渁nd provoked an armed response from the police aimed at saving her.sa国际传媒� His actions, the IIOsa国际传媒檚 Chief Civilian Director Ron MacDonald said, sa国际传媒渕ade it inevitable that officers would fire on him when they broke into the bedroom, and who held her in front of him as a shield against police bullets.sa国际传媒�
Accordingly, he found, sa国际传媒淚 do not consider that there are reasonable grounds to believe that an officer may have committed an offence under any enactment and therefore the matter will not be referred to Crown counsel for consideration of charges.sa国际传媒�
The IIO operates out of Bing Thomsa国际传媒檚 Central City tower in Whalley and reports to B.C.sa国际传媒檚 attorney general.
MacDonald noted his report was based, in part, on the statements of 25 sa国际传媒渃iviliansa国际传媒� witnesses, seven paramedics and 38 witness police officers. A toxicology report indicated Crosson had methamphetamine, amphetamine, fentanyl, nor-fentanyl, heroin, ethanol, THC and naloxone in his system.
The inquest is expected to run for two weeks.
