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| Peter De Groot (Facebook) |
The sister of Peter de Groot, the man shot and killed by police in Slocan, B.C., said today that her brother had been "executed" and that the family was considering filing a civil suit.
Peter de Groot shot by police
Danna de Groot was speaking at a news conference in Vancouver, surrounded by members of her family and their lawyer, Cameron Ward.
In an emotional and lengthy statement, she detailed her many efforts to persuade the police to accept her help in finding her brother, the frustration she felt at misinformation being spread about him and the apparent lack of interest shown in bringing about a peaceful conclusion.
'Ashamed to be Canadian'
"We are outraged," she said. "For the first time ever, we are ashamed to be Canadian."
The de Groot family, she said, is "an average Canadian family. If this can happen to us, this can happen to you."
She described her "bright, intelligent" brother as a man who had gradually rebuilt his life after a workplace accident in 1994 and then, three years later, a massive brain aneurysm. He also had suffered six post-surgery grand mal seizures, in which he broke several bones, she said.
He hated taking painkillers because they clouded his thinking and, through diet, managed to reduce his seizures and wean himself from the medication. His peripheral vision and his senses remained compromised by the aneurysm.
She said her brother "worked harder than anyone can imagine" in order to be able to live independently. He did not, she said, have PTSD, schizophrenia, take drugs or drink alcohol. He was one of seven siblings.
Life outside on a small holding suited him, she said. He liked living somewhere that had no cellphone reception.
