A coroner’s inquest jury has made seven recommendations after hearing two weeks of testimony into the shooting deaths of Randy Crosson, 48, and Nona McEwan, 45, both killed by Emergency Response Team police during a March 29, 2019 hostage-taking in the Whalley house she rented.
To the RCMP E Division, the jury recommended it “create and implement positions for full-time negotiators to be scheduled in a manner that ensures a full team is available, without delay, and in a manner that provides for training in accordance with recognized and emerging standards” and “ensure that the Emergency Response Team has access to explosive devices without delay.”
“From the perspective of our responsibility, no, I really don’t think there was,” said Simon Glen, deputy provincial director for B.C. community corrections in the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General.
In 2003, he was convicted of assaulting McEwan and released on probation. “His explanation of the offence to his supervising probation officer at that point was that he threw a sandwich,” Ryhorchuk tetified. “He knew what he was doing was wrong,” he testified. “He’s the one that caused her death. … The fact that it wasn’t a real gun was immaterial. It looked like a real gun, he was talking about it like a gun. He had previously set off a bear-banger which made it seem like he had a gun.”