A public inquest has now been scheduled into the police-involved shooting deaths of two Granisle residents in April 2016.
To be conducted by the B.C. Coroners Service, the inquest into the deaths of Jovan Christopher Williams, 39, and Shirley Beatrice Williams, 73, is scheduled to begin June 15 at the Smithers Courthouse.
A 2018 report by the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. (IIO) concluded that an RCMP officer who took the shots which resulted in the deaths of the mother and son said he was forced to first when Jovan ran out the back door of their Granisle residence wearing an army helmet and tossed a Molotov cocktail and pointed a rifle toward the officer, and then again when Shirley came out with a shotgun and wearing a bullet-proof vest.
Officers first responded to the Williams residence April 21, 2016 after receiving reports of altercations between the two and local residents in which Jovan produced a handgun.
An RCMP Emergency Response Team was also called out in what was described as a “very high” risk level while attempting to have the pair surrender and exit the house. Those attempts ultimately failed.
“The balance of the evidence supports the conclusion [the officer] fired his rifle to protect himself from potential lethal force from guns being pointed at him,” reads a portion of the IIO report.
An inquest involving a jury is mandatory for any death that occurs while a person was detained by, or in the custody of, a peace officer.
“The jury will have the opportunity to make recommendations aimed at preventing deaths under similar circumstances. A jury must not make any finding of legal responsibility or express any conclusion of law,” reads the coroners office press release of this morning concerning the inquest.
“An inquest is a formal process that allows for public presentation of evidence relating to a death. The jury will certify the identity of the deceased and how, where, when and by what means death occurred.”