Inquest into death of Kitchener man shot and killed by police begins
Inquest into death of Kitchener man shot and killed by police begins
Nearly eight years after 20-year-old Beau Baker was shot and killed by a Waterloo regional police officer, an inquest into the Kitchener man’s death is now getting underway.
Baker was fatally shot outside his Brybeck Crescent apartment on April 2, 2015.
The inquest, which is being held by video conference, started Monday morning. It’s expected to last two weeks and will include testimony from approximately 16 witnesses.
The officer who shot Baker was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing by the province’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) in 2015.
At the end of this inquest, the jury may make recommendations aimed at preventing future deaths under similar circumstances, but there is no charge or allegation to be proven or disproven and no one is on trial.
FATAL SHOOTING
On Monday morning, the jury heard information about how Baker died.
On the evening of April 2, 2015, Baker called 911 and threatened to kill himself and harm others, including police and paramedics, the SIU found.
He warned the dispatcher he had a knife that police would have to take from him by force.
The SIU determined an officer pulled his gun, pointed it at Baker and ordered him to drop the knife.
Baker refused and began moving forward, threatening to stab the officer.
The officer fired his weapon seven times, hitting Baker with a fatal shot to his mid-abdomen.
Baker’s family said he was in the midst of a mental health crisis at the time of his death.
The family called for a coroner’s inquest in 2016, but it has taken until now for one to begin.
The first witness accounts occurred Monday afternoon.
JURY SHOWN VIDEO
On the first day, a jury was shown a video of Baker recording himself the night of the shooting.
In it, he could be heard saying, “Baker, before he goes to jail, gets killed, or goes to the psych ward because I’m going to stab a cop and I’m going to try.”
Later, Baker could be heard during a phone call with 911 threatening to kill himself and harm others – including police and paramedics – warning the dispatcher he had a knife that police would have to take from him by force.
On the call, he said “I know I need help. I know I need to be apprehended."
The call ended when the first officer arrived outside the apartment building.
The jury heard an audio recording of Baker’s female roommate.
She explained Baker was outside with a knife, and an officer was asking him to put it down.
She said “Beau said don’t come any closer.”
The jury also heard an interview with Baker's other roommate, who said the first officer to arrive drew his gun and told Baker not to move.
The roommate said, “Beau just moved one foot. And he started opening fire on him.”
The roommate said despite Baker threatening to stab the police, he never thought he would do it.
Adding: “I already know for a fact he wasn’t going to do it because Beau isn’t that kind of guy. Especially when he’s drunk, he’s not violent at all.”
In the final recording played Monday, a neighbour said he saw Baker with his hands held out like a cross while saying something about stabbing the officers.
He said Baker took three steps forward, but there was a fairly large snowbank separating him and an officer, so he was surprised when the shots were fired.
The neighbour said Baker “wasn’t running. He wasn’t charging at them. He was literally standing there with his arms out calling them on.”
Photos released by NASA taken from International Space Station show the immense scale of the wildfires in Nova Scotia, with billowing smoke engulfing the landscape.
At the moment, wildfires are burning across six provinces and one territory in Canada — and they’re still spreading in what’s being called an unprecedented fire season. While firefighters work tirelessly to battle the merciless flames and prevent further destruction, scientists say the wildfires are linked to climate change and that this will be the new normal.
A 38-year-old sergeant in the Canadian Army was fined $3,000 and issued a severe reprimand after he made what a military judge described as 'utterly disgusting' anti-Jewish comments while conducting an infantry training course in 2021.
The number of people in Canada with inflammatory bowel disease is increasing rapidly and is expected to grow to 470,000 by 2035, according to a new report from Crohn's and Colitis Canada.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he raised concerns about reports that LGBTQ2S+ rights and democracy are under threat in Poland during a Friday visit with its prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, in Toronto.
Around 8 p.m. on Wednesday, officers responded to two separate calls where citizens believed they heard gunshots in the 100 block of Albert Street near Talbot Street.
The largest fundraising event for My Sisters’ Place in downtown London, Ont. is coming up next weekend, putting women, children, and men through the paces.
The defence has completed its closing summations in an ongoing Windsor murder trial involving the shooting death of 20-year-old Madisen Gingras in April of 2020.
Shoppers with a sweet tooth completely sold out a small town bakery in the Town of Essex recently, while streetscape construction continues in front of the Essex Centre store.
Police charged three men, believed to be members of a street gang, with the attempted murder of a 65-year-old man who was shot 13 times while walking his dog in Schomberg in February.
A popular beach in Bracebridge is open to the public two days after sewing needles were found in the water, but a second beach has since closed over safety concerns.
Gatineau police arrested an 18-year-old man in connection to the investigation into a hidden camera discovered in the washroom at an elementary school.
Three Toronto men have been charged with attempted murder after they allegedly shot an innocent dog walker in Schomberg, Ont. in a case of mistaken identity.
Teachers' groups held a protest outside the National Assembly this morning to voice their opposition against the Quebec government's new education bill.
