Global Courant 2023-04-25 23:51:18
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BURNABY, BC — A retired fire chief says Myles Gray had bruises around his eyes and down the sides of his neck when he stopped moving within minutes of being beaten by police.
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Former Burnaby, BC, fire chief John Campbell told the coroner’s inquest into Gray’s death that he saw the injuries after police handed the 33-year-old man over to perform CPR.
Gray died after a beating by Vancouver police in August 2015, suffering injuries including a broken eye socket, broken larynx and ruptured testicles.
Campbell says when he arrived at the location where police had struggled to handcuff Gray, an officer told him to wait while the scene was secured.
When he saw Gray, Campbell said he was lying on his stomach, handcuffed, but still struggling when officers told him to stay down.
Campbell told the inquest that when Gray suddenly stopped moving, police removed the handcuffs and rolled him over to administer first aid, before firefighters took over and performed CPR until he was pronounced dead about 40 minutes later.
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Campbell agreed with a police lawyer that he believed Gray’s breathing had not been disrupted in the moments before he stopped struggling.
The retired fire chief was the first witness to testify who was not a Vancouver police officer.
The inquest has heard from 14 officers, from the first to respond to the initial 911 call about an agitated man who sprayed a woman with a garden hose, to those who attended a call for help and took part in the battle for Gray to fascinate.
Campbell testified that the only information he received before arriving at the scene with other firefighters was that there had been a “bear spray incident”.
Personnel from the Burnaby Fire Department, BC Emergency Health Services, the Independent Investigations Office and others are expected to testify later this week.
An investigative jury cannot rule on legal responsibility, but can make recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on April 25, 2023.
