A decision expected Thursday on whether a Victoria police officer committed misconduct when he fired a “less lethal” weapon, fatally injuring a woman on Christmas Day 2019, has been postponed.
Lisa Rauch, 43, was shot in the back of the head with plastic projectiles from an ARWEN, a “less lethal” weapon designed to cause pain and incapacitate a person. It was fired at Rauch by Ron Kirkwood into a smoke-filled room on Dec. 25, 2019. Rauch died four days later in hospital from blunt-force head injuries after being removed from life support.
Adjudicator Wally Oppal was expected to deliver his decision on allegations against Kirkwood just over a year after a public hearing held by the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner began into the death of Rauch.
The decision has been rescheduled for May 26.
Oppal, a retired judge and former B.C. attorney general, was asked to determine whether Kirkwood, who has been promoted to sergeant since the incident, committed misconduct under the Police Act.
Kirkwood faces allegations he abused his authority when he fired the ARWEN and neglected his duty by failing to document what happened.
He has been cleared of criminal wrongdoing by the province’s police watchdog. An investigation by the Vancouver Police Department on behalf of the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner found the misconduct allegations unsubstantiated.
Clayton Pecknold, police complaint commissioner at the time, appointed Oppal to review the case once more, deciding there was a reasonable basis to believe the Vancouver police investigator got it wrong.
Officers were responding that day to a report that Rauch had locked herself inside a unit in a Pandora Avenue supportive housing facility. The unit’s tenant testified Rauch was consuming alcohol and crystal methamphetamine, and had threatened the tenant with a knife.
The urgency of the situation escalated when officers noticed smoke coming from the unit’s window and the building’s fire alarm went off. Officers determined the fire posed a danger to other residents, many of whom had not been evacuated, and they needed to immediately remove Rauch to allow firefighters to extinguish the fire.
Kirkwood in April 2024 he believed he was firing at Rauch’s torso. It was only after he fired three shots and other officers moved into the room that he realized she was seriously injured, he told the public hearing.
