A coronersa国际传媒檚 inquest into the deaths of a Surrey couple killed by police during a hostage-taking in Whalley in 2019 opened April 16 in Burnaby with a written statement from the son of Randy E. Crosson, one of the deceased.

sa国际传媒淢y dad had a hard life and didnsa国际传媒檛 have the opportunities to get better and to get clean,sa国际传媒� he told the inquest. sa国际传媒淲hat you are about to hear is about a man on drugs, struggling with life. But this was not my dad. My dad was a loving, caring person who loved all us kids. Isa国际传媒檓 sorry for what he has done with life, but hopefully today we can learn from this. I love my dad and Nona both the same.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淪o my hope today is for a little understanding, and hopefully today we as a family can get some closure for our future.sa国际传媒�

The inquest is at Coronerssa国际传媒� Court, on the 20th floor of Metrotower II, with coroner Margaret Janzen presiding. She and a jury are hearing evidence from witnesses under oath. The jury may make recommendations aimed at preventing deaths under similar circumstances but not any finding of legal responsibility.

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 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.

Brandon McEwan, Nona McEwansa国际传媒檚 son, told the coroner and jury sa国际传媒渋tsa国际传媒檚 kind of hard to talk about her,sa国际传媒� wiping away tears. sa国际传媒淪he was awesome.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淪he was a great person, a great friend,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淪he was a great mother.sa国际传媒�

He phoned 911, telling police Crosson was believed to have a gun and his mom wasnsa国际传媒檛 safe. sa国际传媒淭hey brought a tank, thatsa国际传媒檚 pretty scary.sa国际传媒�

McEwan was asked if he recalled how things ended. sa国际传媒淪hitty,sa国际传媒� he replied.

sa国际传媒淭hese guys are supposed to be trained professionals and it didnsa国际传媒檛 seem that professional in my eyes,sa国际传媒� he told the jury.

Crossonsa国际传媒檚 probation officer Rob Ryhorchuk testified he was assigned to his case in 2015 after Crosson was convicted of robbery. Crossonsa国际传媒檚 criminal history began in 1996, primarily involving break-ins, theft, assault, carrying a weapon and numerous convictions for failing to comply with court orders.

In 2003, he was convicted of assaulting McEwan and released on probation. sa国际传媒淗is explanation of the offence to his supervising probation officer at that point was that he threw a sandwich.sa国际传媒�

He was ordered not to have contact with her or her family for one year. sa国际传媒淚 believe Mr. Crosson attended Ms. McEwansa国际传媒檚 residence and threatened her father, her mother and herself saying he was going to burn their house down.sa国际传媒� He was convicted of uttering threats and breach of probation. sa国际传媒淚 believe there was another two-year probation order,sa国际传媒� Ryhorchuk told the inquest.

Ryhorchuk said probation officers typically deal with 55 to 60 clients at any given time. The inquest heard Crosson was diagnosed as bipolar and sa国际传媒渉ad a history of non-compliance in terms of taking his medication. He actually had his parole revoked because he failed to attend any mental health services in the community after being directed so by his probation officer. When I met with him he indicated to me that upon his release he was having issues accesssing medication.sa国际传媒�

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 continued after Now-Leader press time and is expected to run for two weeks.