Group condemns RCMP after fatal shooting of young mom in front of her child

An advocacy group is condemning the RCMP after Surrey Mounties shot and killed a young mother in Cloverdale Thursday morning.

Authorities say officers intially arrived at the home on 180A Street near 61A Avenue in response to a disturbance call. Police opened fire upon learning the victim had “locked herself in a room with a toddler and was holding a weapon near the child,” investigators said.

The toddler was not injured, while the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS) calls the RCMP-involved shooting “unacceptable.”

“Since we believe RCMP are trained to use the least lethal option when dealing with difficult situations, we expect that they will,” said Angela-Marie Macdougall, executive director at BWSS.

“All too often, we witness police escalate situations to the point where they believe they need to use lethal violence.”

Macdougall believes the “increase in police killings of people within Canada over the last four or five years” is directly linked to officers frequently escalating situations and issues of race.

“As it happens, the [victim was] an Afro-Latina, which is to say that she is a Black woman who speaks Spanish,” Macdougall said.

According to BWSS, the woman was a newcomer from Colombia who had recently obtained her permanent residency in Canada.

Speaking with the victim’s family and friends, Macdougall learned that the woman was described as “calm, kind, thoughtful, wise, and a wonderful mother. And, very focused on establishing herself in Canada.”

However, Macdougall highlights that there are still unanswered questions regarding the woman’s living situation.

“She had expressed some concern and was seeking to obtain housing independent of her husband, wanting to ‘take a break.’ This was an inquiry she made.”

Macdougall also raises concerns about the victim’s English language skills.

“English was not a language she was proficient in. We have no knowledge of whether the police attempted to communicate with her in her language,” she said.

“Did she even know they were the police? Did they convey that they were there to help her, or did she think they were going to harm her, which they eventually did?”

1130 NewsRadio has reached out to the Surrey RCMP for comment.

Meanwhile, B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office has taken over the investigation and will determine whether the RCMP’s use of force was justified.