Sister of man shot in Slocan condemns police after manhunt
By Nelson Daily Staff
The sister of the man shot by police (Monday) October 13 near Slocan told a news conference Monday in Vancouver that her brother was “executed”.
Danna de Groot read the emotional statement detailing her many efforts to convince police to allow her to help locate brother Peter de Groot.
Peter de Groot, 45, was shot by killed in a police interaction in a cabin west of the village of Slocan.
Two members of the Emergency Response Team were in the area of Slocan near a gravel pit conducting a search of a cabin when the incident happened.
“Upon entering the cabin there was an interaction between the subject of the ongoing search and the two ERT members,” Southeast District Commander Chief Superintendent Frank Smart confirmed in a news conference.
But Danna de Groot said brother had no history of violence or run-ins with the law before the incident four days earlier after allegedley firing at officers in the village of Slocan (Thursday) October 9.
Instead, Danna de Groot said Peter was a gifted scholar who planned on pursuing a PhD before a brain aneurysm more than a decade ago left him in pain and with poor co-ordination.
Peter de Groot eventually returned to his love of the outdoors, moving to the Slocan Valley and living a homesteading life of farming.
The Independent Investigations Office later confirmed in a news release that de Groot died from a gunshot injury sustained in the interaction with ERT.
Read the full statement by Danna de Groot here.
