The BC Coroners Service will hold a coroners inquest next month into the death of a man who was shot by police in 2018.
The inquest into Christopher Jonathan Bloomfield’s death will be held at the Victoria Law Courts starting at 9:30 a.m. on July 2. Kirsten Everett will be the presiding coroner, and she and a jury will hear evidence to determine the facts surrounding Bloomfield’s death.
“The jury will have the opportunity to make recommendations aimed at preventing deaths under similar circumstances,” a release from the coroner service says. “A jury must not make any finding of legal responsibility or express any conclusion of law.”
Bloomfield died on Nov. 10, 2018, while inside his home in the Cedar Creek Mobile Home Park near Mill Bay. At the time, Shawnigan Lake RCMP said officers were responding to reports of an assault and when they entered the home a man charged at them with an edged weapon.
Officers say they used a taser, which failed to subdue the man, and then shot at the man. Neighbours report hearing four shots.
READ MORE FROM 2018: Neighbours and close friends say man killed by police in Mill Bay was kind but troubled
Just over one year later, the Independent Investigations Office of B.C. finished its investigation into the death, and cleared officers of wrongdoing.
The IIO report says officers fired six shots at a close range at Bloomfield, and five of them hit him in his chest, abdomen and both arms.
READ MORE FROM 2021: IIO not recommending charges to RCMP in fatal Mill Bay shooting
The coroner says the Coroners Act says inquests are mandatory for any deaths that occur when a person was detained by or in the custody of a peace officer, and a chief coroner may direct an inquest if the public has an interest in being informed.
Inquests serve three functions: to determine the facts related to the death, make recommendations to prevent similar deaths and ensure public confidence that the circumstances surrounding the death will not be overlooked, concealed or ignored.
Laura Brougham
