Family of B.C. man shot dead by RCMP hopes for coroner's inquest
Siblings dispute police version of events in August 2019 death of Kyaw Naing Din in Maple Ridge
The family of a man shot dead by Mounties in a suburban B.C. city last summer are calling for a coroner's inquest.
Fifty-four-year-old Kyaw Naing Din, also known as Kyaw Naing Maung, died in an encounter with RCMP in the Fraser Valley community of Maple Ridge on Aug. 11.
Police have said Din had a knife, and that they used a stun gun on him before an officer shot him.
The circumstances leading up to the shooting are a matter of dispute, according to family lawyer Jason Gratl.
"The competing version of events that led to Mr. Din's death raise troubling credibility issues that are impossible to reconcile without a coroner's inquest," Gratl said in a news release.
Din's siblings have now asked B.C.'s Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe to consider conducting an inquest to determine what happened, Gratl says.
Family alleges Din was shot 3 times 'within seconds'
According to the family, Din had schizophrenia, spoke little English and had previous, uneventful encounters with police. He came to Canada from Myanmar as an adult with his brother and two sisters.
On the day Din died, sister Yin Yin Hla Ma called 911 for help taking him to hospital after he failed to recognize her and was threatening to hit her.
The family news release alleges that two Mounties entered Din's bedroom against Ma's advice, even after other officers had determined the issue was medical, not criminal.
The siblings allege the officers Tasered Din, then shot him three times "all within seconds," according to the release. They say he was shot twice in the head.
The siblings say they've been told by the RCMP that an officer opened fire on Din after he threw a dumbbell at them. But Ma denies that, as well as the claim that Din had a knife.
The fatal shooting is currently under investigation by the Independent Investigations Office and an RCMP spokesperson declined to comment on the family's allegations.
The IIO's chief civilian director Ron MacDonald told CBC that the circumstances of Din's death are still under investigation.
"I do understand that this matter is of significant concern to the family, which is one of the reasons that the IIO exists," MacDonald said.
Andy Watson, spokesperson for the B.C. Coroners Service, said that any decision about a coroner's inquest will have to wait until after the IIO investigation is wrapped up.
Under the B.C. Coroners Act, an inquest must be held in almost all cases where someone dies while in police custody.
The chief coroner can also call an inquest to address community concerns about a death, to uncover information about a dead person and how they died, or to draw attention to a particular cause of death.