Stratford Police Service Chief Gregory Skinner said that he was shocked when he first heard of the Bradshaw Drive shooting on Aug. 1, which left two people dead and two others severely injured.
“Stratford hasn't had that kind of violence in the recent past,” Skinner said. “You look at big cities and the news coverage and you hear about it all the time – and yes, we've heard about it in Woodstock and St. Thomas, but we luckily have been a little bit immune from that level of violence. And now, all of a sudden, it is in our community as well.
“Stratford is a very safe city,” he went on to say. “Our city has changed, but it is still a very safe city … I totally understand parents being extra vigilant with respect to looking out after their kids and on their streets and being out on the streets, particularly after dark. And I think there's going to be a period of time where people are going to have to regain trust in their neighbourhoods to be able to feel safe and secure … That's totally reasonable, and it's going to take time.”
On the evening of Aug. 1, police say Bradshaw Drive resident Ricky Bilcke opened fire on neighbour Jonathan Bennett after an ongoing dispute. He proceeded to shoot David Tokley, another neighbour, and Stephanie Irvine before turning the gun on himself.
Bilcke was found by police dead on the scene and Bennett was pronounced dead in hospital. Tokley and Irvine were transported to Victoria Hospital in London by ORNGE Air Ambulance for further recovery.
In the wake of the shooting, Skinner confirmed that there will be a review of two protocols. One is the response to active shooters.
During an active shooter situation, it can be chaotic, with numerous reports coming in at once. During this most recent incident, multiple firearms being discharged were reported, indicating to the responding officers that there could be more than one shooter.
Additionally, most of the training on active shooters occurs in indoor spaces like schools, apartment buildings, and commercial complexes. Very rarely are they in outdoor, public spaces.
“That takes a different type of training,” Skinner said. “So we're going to have to look at our protocols with respect to that and change our training tactics.”
The other aspect in review is the mediation process police go through when called, which Skinner said was already in review. The service has been looking at having trained mediators go out to resolve neighbour disputes rather than police to get “to the root cause of issues.”
These policy reviews will take time but Skinner assured that the service is “hypersensitive” to escalating violence from neighbour disputes after the recent shooting. Still, Skinner stressed how difficult it is to predict outcomes of these situations since people are usually on their best behaviour when uniformed police arrive and tend not to telegraph what they will do when police are not around.
Skinner said that the policy review will happen internally; however, the police services board will be made aware of any changes during its monthly public meetings. Additionally, all changes will be occurring formally.
A coroner’s inquest must be called by the Office of the Chief Coroner to inform the public on the circumstances of a death, if specific circumstances occur. During the Bradshaw Drive shooting, none of these circumstances occurred but the coroner may call an inquest if it is desirable for the public to have an open and full hearing of the circumstance of a death.
As of publication, no inquest has been called.
“I wouldn't want to speak on behalf of the coroner,” Skinner said, when asked if he anticipates the coroner calling for an inquiry. “I think there are a number of contributing factors to this particular incident that may cause a coroner to have a better understanding without going to an inquest to get the who, what, why, where, when and how … But that'll be up to the coroner to decide.”
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