The community of Surrey, Canada, is in shock after a mother of Colombian origin was killed by the police. The facts are not very clear, but what is known It is only now that the young woman was shot when she refused to let go of her baby, with whom she had locked herself in a room in her house.
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According to Canada’s Global News, the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) says police received a call following a disturbance at a home on 180A Street near 62 Avenue in Cloverdale.
Investigators said the woman had locked herself in a room and was holding an unspecified weapon near a small child.
The website explains that approximately one hour after the RCMP arrived, the woman was shot after an “interaction” with the officers and that the baby was unharmed.
The victim was identified as Vanessa Valencia, and the church in the community where the woman lived confirmed the identification. According to the news portal, members of the City Church of Christ are wondering how the situation with the police was handled and why they fired.
Church pastor Gaston Ntabaza said Valencia’s husband had called 911 after an argument and needed help calming her down. He added that her husband insisted she did not have any weapons and did not pose a threat to their 1-year-old son.
“They have a lot of resources they can use to de-escalate the situation,” the pastor said, questioning the use of the firearm. “She really loved this baby very much. There is no way this woman would become a predator,” he insisted.
Global News had access to a recording from the day of the incident, in which a woman can be heard constantly shouting “God does not exist” and doing so in Spanish.
Neighbors told Global News they heard multiple police commands, including “drop the knife” and “drop the scissors,” adding that the situation went on for at least 30 minutes before the fatal shots were fired.
“Police have a lot of tools they could use, and I think shooting a mother holding her baby while her entire family was there was a little bit of excessive force,” said neighbor Keegan Marhall.
The church pastor said Vanessa Valencia had experienced a mental health crisis the day before she died, prompting police to search for her Wednesday night after her friends called 911 to report she was having suicidal thoughts.
Friends told Global News they don’t know if Valencia, who arrived from Colombia, even knew what was happening during the standoff with police.
“Vanessa does not have the slightest ability to communicate in English,” Ntabaza said. Surrey police have not commented while the case is being investigated by the IIO. The IIO declined an on-camera interview.
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