Beau Baker's mother hopes the truth of his shooting will come out in a civil lawsuit

Beau Baker's death in April of 2015 is still a fresh wound for his mother Jackie Baker.

"I live with this every day now," she told The Morning Edition. "Somebody talked to me about closure. I don't know if that's what I'm looking for at this point."

If closure comes at some point, I'm not sure what that looks like.- Jackie Baker

"Just the truth, just the truth to come out.  And if closure comes at some point, I'm not sure what that looks like but let's see if it happens."

Baker hopes the truth will come out in a civil lawsuit that has been filed against the Regional Municipality of Waterloo Police Services Board, Chief Bryan Larkin, officer John A Doe, officer John B Doe and "unknown" officers.

"It's not just the name. It's having the person that killed Beau be accountable. To answer why he [the officer] did what he did and was it necessary," said Baker.

Cleared by SIU

The Special Investigations Unit cleared the officer of any wrong doing saying he or she was legally justified in their actions.

In her lawsuit, Baker challenges the police and SIU version of what happened.

Beau Baker, 20, was shot by a police officer outside his apartment on Brybeck Crescent. His family had said he had a documented history of mental illness and was obviously emotionally distressed when police arrived at the apartment building that night.

"Everybody's heard what Beau said prior [to the shooting] but nobody knows what his actions actually were,"said Baker.

"That he did not run, walk quickly or lunge at the officer. He stood on one stair through the whole event and it was the officer who was approaching him, with the gun pointed at my son."

Baker lawyer calls for transparency

Jackie Baker's lawyer Davin Charney,said he has tried through a number of avenue's to have the name of the officer released and the civil lawsuit is their last effort at having that name released. 

Charney said more information should have been released through a coroner's inquest, but no coroner's inquest was conducted; the probe by the Special Investigations Unit  or from the Office of the Independent Police Review Directive (OIPRD).

A statement from the OIPRD sent to Charney said:

"The Police Services Act does not require that respondent officers be named in Investigative Reports. While I agree that it is desirable to do so in the overwhelming majority of cases, there may be exceptional circumstances in which the release of the names of the respondent officers may be delayed or withheld."

"If the family did not pursue the lawsuit, the case would end,"said Charney.

It's uncertain when the civil case could head to court. Charney suspects at least a year.

Officer's name withheld

Staff Sergeant Michael Haffner says Waterloo Regional Police Service will not release the name of the officer who shot and killed Baker's son in order to protect their identity, adding there were concerns about threats to the officer.

"Obviously as we go through a civil suit, [the officer] will be a part of that. At that point [Jackie Baker] will find out who the officer is. It would be a travesty if we provided the name of the officer to the community and something happened to that officer in retaliation," said Haffner.

"It's unfortunate what happened. It was a sad day for Waterloo Region when it happened."