Officer says he punched Myles Gray in head as hard as he could to avoid having to shoot him
Const. Kory Folkestad says he believed struggle with Gray was 'fight for his life'
An officer with the Vancouver Police Department testified Wednesday that he punched an unarmed man in the head multiple times as hard as he could during a deadly struggle involving several constables, telling an inquest he believed the only alternative to subduing the man would've been to shoot him.
Const. Kory Folkestad took the stand on the third day of a coroner's inquest into the death of Myles Gray, 33, who died in a wooded backyard in Burnaby, B.C., after the confrontation with as many as nine police officers in 2015.
In his testimony, Folkestad said he and his partner, Const. Eric Birzneck, responded to the scene in plain clothes after their uniformed colleague called for backup. He said Const. Hardeep Sahota had told them she feared for her safety after Gray, who she believed to be intoxicated, threatened her and grabbed the door of her police van.
Folkestad said the trio of officers followed Gray into the forested backyard on Joffre Avenue near Marine Drive. He said Gray at one point clenched his fists, tensed his body and "roared" at the officers.
"I thought Mr. Gray was going to attack and assault us," the officer said.
Folkestad said he and Sahota tried to handcuff Gray after Birzneck pepper sprayed him.
"We almost had him … then all of a sudden he just ripped his arms out and squared off ... with a speed and strength I still couldn't kind of believe,'' Folkestad said.
Folkestad, who told the jury he was concussed and diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after the fight, said he punched Gray in the face multiple times as hard as he could.
"It was a horrific situation to be in. I remember thinking like, 'This is a call where we're going to have to shoot someone,'" he said.
The officer said he believed Gray knocked him unconscious. After he woke up, Folkestad said he tried to hold Gray's legs before leaving after more backup arrived to get stitches for a cut to his chin.
2 of 3 officers had no mental health training, inquest hears
Speaking outside the inquest at the midday break, Gray's mother said she didn't believe Folkestad was being truthful. She also expressed concern that officers did not tell her son he was under arrest before using force.
"Birzneck said, 'Get down on your knees.' My son didn't take a knee, and boom, right away, it was the ... pepper spray right into the face," Margie Gray said.
"There was no any way of de-escalation. There were many, many times that they could have de-escalated."
Gray's sister, Melissa Gray, said her brother had been hospitalized and diagnosed with bipolar disorder as a teenager around 1999. She said she believed her brother's condition was stable, but agreed he could have potentially been suffering from a manic episode the day he died.
Gray died in the backyard with injuries that included a fractured eye socket, a broken nose and rib, a crushed voice box and a ruptured testicle. Asked about the injuries to Gray's face, Folkestad said he couldn't recall where exactly he hit Gray, whether those blows broke bones or whether he saw any blood.
WATCH | Myles Gray's mother says she wants police to express remorse:
Neither Folkestad nor Sahota said they had any mental health training before Gray's death. Birzneck has been trained in crisis negotiation since 2012 and now works as a use-of-force training officer with the department.
Testifying immediately after his former partner on Wednesday, Birzneck said he pepper sprayed Gray after the man dropped his head and "came at" him.
"My perception was that he was charging at me," Birzneck said.
Birzneck said Gray continued to struggle after the officer struck him with a baton with "100 per cent" of his strength. He said he also tried to render Gray unconscious with a chokehold known among law enforcement as a vascular neck restraint.
"He wasn't feeling pain at that point," the officer added, echoing earlier testimony from Sahota.
Coroner cautions jury on 'excited delirium'
The officer says Gray continued to struggle.
"All of the strikes that I used, none of them had the desired effect," Birzneck said.
An investigation into police conduct found seven officers, including Folkestad, Birzneck, and Sahota, might have abused their authority by using unnecessary force on Gray. Six of the seven might have also neglected their duty by failing to take any written notes, the police chief in charge of the probe wrote in a February report.
The officers could face discipline as severe as being fired if the allegations are proven, the report said.
Earlier in his testimony, Folkestad told the jury he believed his first impression of Gray was experiencing "excited delirium" — something he thought could lead a person to exhibit "superhuman strength."
Coroner Larry Marzinzik, who is overseeing the inquest, cautioned jury members about the contentious phrase. Excited delirium describes a state of agitation, aggression and distress generally linked to drug use or mental illness and has been used as an explanation for sudden, unexpected deaths during interactions with police.
Marzinik said most pathologists no longer recognize the term as a cause of death and that the medical community is debating its relevance.
The coroner noted the inquest will hear from a medical expert later about the phrase and instructed the jury to take less weight on a "layperson's" statements.
Officer says police 'never prepared' for such incidents
Two people had called police after Gray had wandered into the neighbourhood, sworn at a woman and sprayed a garden hose at her as she watered plants outside her co-op building.
On Tuesday, Const. Hardeep Sahota became the first member of the force to speak publicly about the case in more than seven years.
Sahota, the first officer to interact with Gray at the scene, told the inquest that she wasn't thinking about mental health and instead believed intoxication was driving the man's "bizarre" behaviour.
Answering a juror's question about any training she would've liked to receive in retrospect, Sahota said she could not make any suggestions.
"You're never prepared for an incident like this as a police officer," she said.
The inquest is scheduled to conclude April 28. Disciplinary hearings for the officers have been postponed until after the inquiry.
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With files from The Canadian Press