Report to the Minister of Justice and Solicitor General Fatality Inquiries Act Public Fatality Inquiry WHEREAS a Public Inquiry was held at the Calgary Courts Centre, 601 - 5th Street S.W. in the City of Calgary , in the Province of Alberta, (City, Town or Village) (Name of City, Town, Village) on the 16, 17, 18 and 19 day of December , 2013 , (and by adjournment year on the day of , ), year before Harry M. Van Harten , a Provincial Court Judge, into the death of Corwin Allan PEEACE (Name in Full) (Age) of 260 Erin Meadows Close S.E. Calgary, Alberta and the following findings were made: (Residence) Date and Time of Death: June 10, 2011 at 20:14 hours Place: 260 Erin Meadows Close S.E. Calgary, Alberta Medical Cause of Death: (“cause of death” means the medical cause of death according to the International Statistical Classification of Diseases, Injuries and Causes of Death as last revised by the International Conference assembled for that purpose and published by the World Health Organization – The Fatality Inquiries Act, Section 1(d)). Gunshot Wounds of the Chest Manner of Death: (“manner of death” means the mode or method of death whether natural, homicidal, suicidal, accidental, unclassifiable or undeterminable – The Fatality Inquiries Act, Section 1(h)). Victim – Precipitated Homicide (Suicide) LS0338 (2014/05) Report – Page 2 of 6 Circumstances under which Death occurred: In troduction [1] This Fatality Inquiry investigated the circumstances surrounding the shooting of the deceased, Corwin Allan Peeace, by Cst. Stephen Cook, a member of the Calgary Police Service. The shooting occurred at Mr. Peeace's residence on June 10, 2011 and he was declared dead at the scene. [2] Counsel represented Cst. Cook who was a primary witness at this inquiry. Counsel represented the Calgary Police Service, which was granted standing at this inquiry in an application made July 17, 2013. [3] Under the Fatality Inquiries Act, family members have standing, which was confirmed the same day to Vanessa Severight, the deceased's common-law partner, and Stella Peeace, the deceased's mother. Neither Ms. Severight nor Ms. Peeace were represented by counsel and neither attended the entirety of the hearing which took place over two periods of time totaling five days. Each, however, was provided with a copy of the materials tendered at the Inquiry, was made aware of the right to be represented by counsel and was given the opportunity to cross-examine the witnesses and make final representations. Facts [4] The events that immediately preceded Corwin Peeace's death happened very quickly. At 19:48 hours, Vanessa Severight placed a 911 call to the Calgary Police Service. The call was recorded. It ended at 19:57 hours, some nine minutes later. By then, Cst. Cook had fired the four shots which resulted in Mr. Peeace's death. A transcript of the call is contained in the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team’s (“ASIRT”) Final Report created as a result of its investigation of this case. [5] In the recording, Mr. Peeace is heard to say "Today is the day I die" on three separate occasions. He states that he is "not going back to jail" and that if the police didn't "take him out'', he would take them out. He also purports to divide his residential school settlement proceeds between his children and Ms. Severight and he calls occupants of the residence to him in order to say goodbye. [6] The 911 transcript is supplemented by the Computer Aided Dispatch ("CAD") records and the voice dispatch recordings. These reflect the communications between the 911 call-taker and the dispatched police officers, in particular Cst. Cook. Heard and read together, the following conclusions can be made. [7] The police were responding to a high priority "check on the welfare" of the caller, Ms. Severight. Cst. Cook and his partner arrived at the residence within five minutes of the commencement of the call. The caller was speaking quietly and it was not clear as to whether she could leave the residence. Mr. Peeace was identified as the "offender waiting at the door." Cst. Cook had read part of the CAD dispatch enroute to the residence. When he approached the house on foot, Cst. Cook could hear "raised voices inside." Moments later, Cst. Cook reported that Mr. Peeace had been shot down and asked for Emergency Medical Services ("EMS") and police back- up units. [8] Cst. Cook testified that he traveled to the residence with his emergency equipment activated. He learned from reading the CAD that the 911 caller couldn't speak freely and that a male in the house was saying "You are going to die today" (emphasis added). As he arrived at the LS0338 (2014/05) Report – Page 3 of 6 residence, Cst. Cook switched from the CAD to a map on his in-car computer and deactivated his siren. [9] As he approached the front door, Cst. Cook could hear two males and a female arguing. One of the males' voices was overpowering. He tried the door. It was locked. He announced himself as "City Police." The voices stopped. The door was opened a quarter of the way. Cst. Cook saw a young female holding a house telephone, looking terrified. He asked, "What's going on?" There was no answer and the door was closed. [10] Cst. Cook then stepped back and drew his service pistol. He kicked at the door and when it opened he saw Mr. Peeace holding a knife over the young female from behind the door. He kicked the door a second time and it opened fully. He formed the impression that Mr. Peeace was going to stab the female and therefore commencing firing at the Mr. Peeace's centre mass. He fired four shots in rapid succession and ceased firing when he saw Mr. Peeace fall to the floor. Five to six seconds later, he reported the shooting over his radio and asked for EMS and police back-up. [11] As stated earlier, this incident was thoroughly investigated by the ASIRT which is charged under a. 46.1 of the Alberta Police Act with investigating sensitive cases involving police services including, as in this case, police officer shootings. [12] While the ASIRT procedure is sometimes the subject of public comment because of concerns that it constitutes "the police investigating the police," it is generally acknowledged that its investigative resources are superior. In this case, the ASIRT investigation commenced the same day of the incident and resulted in a detailed report dated October 5, 2011. The report was part of Exhibit l, three binders of documents and photographs which were entered into evidence at the December 16, 2013 commencement of this Inquiry. The report was discussed in testimony by the primary investigator Kevin Kunetzski, the first witness called at the Inquiry. [13] The ASIRT report addresses the concerns about this incident raised by Mr. Peeace’s family members who were interviewed as part of the ASIRT investigation. As noted above, while the family members with standing did not attend all parts of the hearing, their questions of the witnesses and their submissions reflected two concerns which can be summarized this way: i) Because of Cst. Cook's attendance at the Peeace residence in February, 2010 (as a result of Ms. Severight calling for police assistance) during which Cst. Cook deployed his Taser on Mr. Peeace, Cst. Cook "had it in" for Mr. Peeace and his June 10, 2011, attendance provided an opportunity. ii) After the shooting, Cst. Cook did not immediately attend to Mr. Peeace's injuries and Mr. Peeace's death may have resulted from delayed first aid. The February 2010 Incident [14] On February 28, 2010, Vanessa Severight called the Calgary Police Service complaining that Mr. Peeace had struck her on the arm. At the time, it was the 15th domestic violence complaint involving Mr. Peeace that had been made to the Calgary Police Service. [15] Cst. Cook was one of the police officers who responded to the call and attended at 260 Erin Meadow Close SE. Mr. Peeace, heavily intoxicated, had to be roused from sleep by police officers who were effecting his arrest. He assaulted Cst. Cook who ultimately deployed his Taser in LS0338 (2014/05) Report – Page 4 of 6 attempting to control Mr. Peeace. The charges against Mr. Peeace were eventually resolved by his entering into a recognizance under s. 810 of the Criminal Code. [16] Cst. Cook testified at this Inquiry that when he approached the residence at 260 Erin Meadow Close SE on June 10, 2011, he remembered having previously been at that residence but had no recollection of whom he'd dealt with on that occasion. Further, he stated that he was some distance away (CPS records of his vehicle location show that he was seven kilometers away) from the residence when he responded to the June 10, 2011 call. [17] Therefore, the suggestion that Cst. Cook was addressing some personal grudge against Mr. Peeace on June 10, 2011 is entirely without merit. The Call for Emergency Response [18] As noted above, the 911 call transcript, the CAD record and the radio transmission transcript clearly indicate that five to six seconds after Cst. Cook fired his fourth round at Mr. Peeace, he reported the shooting and asked for EMS and police back-up. He testified that he did not personally attend to Mr. Peeace because, first, he was concerned for the well-being of the other occupants of the residence and, second, based on his experience as a trained paramedic, he surmised that Mr.