The family of Jared Lowndes has never stopped demanding justice
It has been more than two years since Jared (Jay) Lowndes was shot and killed by RCMP. And Jay’s family and friends are not alone in their wait for justice.
Many Indigenous communities across Canada are watching this case, explains Jay’s mother, Laura Holland. She spent the night before the latest update from B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office (IIO) on the phone with “mothers and sisters of Indigenous sons and daughters slain by law enforcement — from northern B.C. to Alberta to New Brunswick.”
Lowndes was Wet’suwet’en of the Laksilyu House and a 38 year-old father of two children. He was killed by Campbell River RCMP on July 8, 2021.
B.C.’s Independent Investigations Office (IIO), a civilian-led police oversight agency, investigates any incidents where police come in contact with the public and an injury or death occurs. It has been overseeing the case.
After he was killed, witnesses told friends and family that Jay was cornered in a Tim Hortons parking lot when a police service dog was released into his car, where Jay was with his puppy. Neither Jay nor the service dog made it out of the car alive. “The RCMP in Campbell River shot my son, after they started a pursuit that was not necessary,” Holland said at the time.
The RCMP press release stated that “the police service dog was stabbed and killed, and the suspect was shot and was pronounced deceased on scene. The police dog handler was also treated for a knife wound. No other persons were injured.”
The IIO has since reviewed the evidence and determined earlier this year that the actions of three of the four officers involved in the death were “not justified,” and recommended charges. This includes a dog master and two officers who fired shots.
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Two and a half years after killing a Wet’suwet’en man, RCMP officers may finally face charges
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