May 27- VicPD officer misused authority, hearing rules

Good morning !

The first public hearing called under BC’s Police Act into a person’s death has determined that a VicPD officer “committed misconduct when he fired ARWEN rounds that led to the death” of a 43-year-old woman on Christmas Day in 2019. We have more on that below.

— Mark

Today’s approx. read time: 5 minutes

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NEWS

Fatal 2019 shooting was VicPD officer misconduct, public hearing report determines

Firing plastic bullets into a smoky room was reckless, unnecessary, and “objectively unreasonable,” the Office of the Police Complaints Commissioner (OPCC) said of the circumstances leading to the Christmas Day death of Lisa Rauch at a Pandora supportive housing unit in 2019.

Following a 16-day hearing—spread over six months—retired judge Wally Oppal ruled VicPD Sgt. Ron Kirkwood abused his authority when he used an Anti-Riot Weapon ENfield (ARWEN) gun to fire plastic bullets, striking Rauch in the head. 

Rauch, 43, was visiting a friend. Witnesses said she was in a drug-induced psychosis when she threatened people with a knife if they entered a room she had locked herself into. 

Called to the scene, police initially waited in the hallway, but a fire broke out, forcing firefighters to hose down the room. It was at that time Kirkwood aimed his ARWEN gun at what he thought was Rauch’s abdomen and fired three rounds.

Kirkwood testified that he couldn’t see Rauch’s head, but that he thought the woman was standing. It turned out that Rauch was seated and facing away from the door, so the plastic bullets struck her in the back of the head. She died in hospital four days later. 

Oppal, a former BC attorney general, ruled Kirkwood failed to uphold the Police Act by firing the weapon into a room where visibility was “essentially completely obscured” and that doing so posed a “substantial risk of injury or death” to Rauch—who was herself not causing “an imminent risk" to anybody else.

Mother & police chief react

Audrey Rauch, the woman’s mother, told the Times Colonist she was shocked but grateful for the ruling and hopes it will deter officers from considering firing an ARWEN.

“An ARWEN is for use in a riot, a prison riot, something like that, not when you’re maybe 15 feet away from somebody… and you should not shoot when you can’t see,” Audrey Rauch told the Times Colonist.

Victoria Police Chief Del Manak, who was surprised by the verdict—BC’s Internal Investigations Office and Vancouver police had found no wrongdoing—told the TC officers were dealing with “a dynamic scene like no other,” with fire alarms sounding, smoke rising, and breathing masks making it difficult to communicate. 

Second ruling: Lack of notes was not neglect of duty

Oppal also ruled that Kirkwood not immediately making notes following the incident, while “contrary to his common law duty,” was in line with VicPD policy and superiors' directions.

The former BC attorney general is expected to recommend discipline and possible corrective actions at a later date. This was the OPCC's first public hearing, under the BC Police Act, into the death of a person.

⚠️ Capital Bulletin

Blanshard down to one lane from Fort to Humble as crews paint road lines.

Sooke byelection: Candidate nominations open today at 9am. [Info]

VicPD seeks witnesses to Quadra assault. [Sun. at 5:30pm]

How to pay property taxes without using the mail. [City of Victoria, District of Saanich]

NEWS

Island’s only girls’ soccer academy to hit the pitch

Saanich's St. Margaret's School and Langford's Pacific FC are teaming up to create the SMS x PFC Football Academy, slated to begin this fall. 

The 117-year-old private boarding school said in a release that the program will integrate high-level sports training with academic and leadership development.

St. Margaret's says the time is right, given the growth of the women's game. Canada now has a women's pro league—the Northern Super League (NSL)—and the Canadian women's team won gold at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and is currently ranked #7 in the world.

Westshore becoming a destination for soccer & women's int’l sports

The Canadian women’s team visited Langford's Starlight Stadium, where Pacific FC plays, as part of longtime superstar Christine Sinclair's farewell tour in late 2023. The Westshore is also home to the defending Olympic silver medalists of the national women's Rugby 7s team. 

The City of Langford is submitting a bid to host a 2026 World Cup team to train when the tourney comes to North American locations, including Vancouver. 

PFC staff will run the new academy

The program will be overseen by Jamar Dixon, the former PFC captain who rejoined the club in 2022 as a player development manager. The head coach, in charge of daily training will be Jodi Grant. A former ringette star and NCAA soccer head coach, Grant has led Pacific FC’s female youth development program (VI Wave) since 2023.

The academy web page says that its training will be optimized for female athletes specifically—with a focus on injury prevention, biomechanics, and knee stability.

⭐️ Capital Picks

⚕️ Victoria Hospitals Foundation’s 2025 Miracle Gala raises $1,764,420 for cancer care.

🪑King Charles in Ottawa to deliver throne speech on Parliament Hill today. [CP]

🎉 Pay-what-you-want season tickets are now on sale for the Belfry Theatre's All Canadian 50th Anniversary Season. Learn more.*

🐻🐻 Grizzly bear cubs playfight up-Island. [CTV]

📸 Colwood before the crawl: See Six Mile House and Parsons Bridge in 1943. [Facebook photo]

*Sponsored Listing

🗞️ In Other News

80-year-old man dies in a bike-van collision on the TransCanada Hwy
The man was cycling south on the shoulder of the northbound car lane Sat. at roughly 5:20pm when a Toyota Sienna van hit him head-on. The cyclist died on the scene. The van’s driver, 51, and passenger, 15, were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. The crash happened just north of View Royal's Six Mile on-ramp, and shut the northbound lanes until nearly 10pm. Police have ruled out drugs and alcohol as a cause, and seek more witnesses. [RCMP]

New Westshore women’s transition house facility is a ‘game-changer’
The 50-unit secondary housing complex is for women and children fleeing domestic abuse to stay, for up to two years, while rebuilding. It’s intended as an alternative to remaining in, or returning to, abusive situations because they can’t find housing in the CRD’s tight market. “Previously, literally 15 years ago, people would come to the emergency shelter and they would, after two weeks, be able to find affordable housing, but Victoria has changed dramatically,” Victoria Women’s Transition House Society executive director Makenna Rielly tells CHEK News.

Accessibility issues continue in BC Legislature, but some changes are coming
Juan de Fuca-Malahat MLA Dana Lajeunesse has to take a much longer route around his 1897-built workplace in his wheelchair than fellow MLAs. It's part of a broader problem with this and other old state buildings, in which major renovations can be “exceptionally costly” and risk structural integrity. BC's Office of the Clerk says public galleries will get accessibility upgrades this summer. [CBC] 

Grizzlies promote Grimwood to coach and general manager 
Geoff Grimwood, the hockey club’s associate coach and director of player personnel, will take over from Rylan Ferster, who parted company with the Grizzlies last week. Grimwood, who relieved Ferster when the coach-GM took a leave of absence in March, joined the Colwood-based team as an associate coach three years ago and has held coaching positions with several BCHL, WHL, and Vancouver Island Hockey League teams. [Grizzlies]

🗓️ Things to do

📚 Book Launch: Moira Dann’s Fat Camp Summer: Celebrate the launch of the new book that tackles issues common to overweight children, including bullying, peer pressure, parental judgment, and body-image issues. Includes a reading & discussion. Munro’s Books. Tonight. 7pm. [Info]

🎶 Soul Source (R&B Band): A 20-piece R&B band directed by Nick La Riviere, performing music by Janelle Monae and others. Hermann’s. Tonight. 7pm. [Info] 

🍰 Cake Decoration Workshop: Visit Flourish BeauTea in Langford for a fun and creative evening learning new techniques, meeting fellow cake enthusiasts, and unleashing your inner artist. Tonight. 6:15pm. [Info]

🎨 Paint the town: Help create a community art panel, a free origami terrarium workshop, and more. Market Square. Tomorrow. 10am-2pm. [Info]

🎤 Queen: It’s a Kinda Magic: Experience a spectacular tribute to Queen, featuring Dominic Warren as Freddie Mercury. Royal Theatre. Tomorrow. 7pm. [Info]

🍻 Fridays at the Station: Every Friday from May 30 to August 29, the Victoria Beer Society hosts a summer pop-up with live music, BC craft beer, local food trucks, and a market with local businesses and artisan studios at Langford Station. 4-8pm. [Info]

🍓 Ichigo Strawberry Moon Market: A vibrant Japanese-inspired food and arts market with 25+ food vendors and 75+ artisan stalls. Fernwood Community Centre. Sat. 11am-4pm. [Info]

🐈 Fernwood Cat Walk: Follow a map of “cat stops” to spot neighbourhood cats lounging in windows, yards, and sidewalks. Afterward, join the “After Paw-ty” at The Fernwood Inn. Fernwood. Sat. 1:30pm to 6pm. [Info]

🏉 BC Senior Women’s Game 2: Watch top women’s rugby athletes compete in the second match of the Blue vs. Gold series. Wallace Field, UVic. Sat. 1pm. [Info]

👀 In Case You Missed It

Monday’s headlines: We’re now up to 900 little local libraries; Swiftsure sailboats & offshore ships; This week's council meetings. [May 26]

Sunday’s headlines: Mayfair owner plans new retail empire by buying Bay leases; Plus: Weekly roundup & June event preview. [May 25]

Saturday’s headlines: Royal Road’s Langford campus named after John Horgan; It’s the Swiftsure race weekend; Chinatown Awakening. [May 24]

Driver using cellphone crashes car, delaying ferry in Nanaimo. [CHEK]

Tofino shores by James MacDonald. [Instagram]

A day in nature around Cable Bay and Dodds Narrows. [Zan Van Isle photos]

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