Stratford, Ont. police to discuss protocols, more training after neighbour dispute turned deadly

Police in Stratford, Ont. say they’re looking at last week’s shooting incident, which escalated from an ongoing neighbour dispute, to see if there’s anything they can learn from it.

On Aug. 1, at around 10:45 p.m., police got a call about an active shooter on Bradshaw Drive. By the time officers arrived, 36-year-old Jonathan Bennett had died and two others, David Tokley and Stephanie Irvine, were seriously hurt. The gunman, 31-year-old Ricky Bilcke, died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

• MORE: 'No one should have survived what I went through': Stratford shooting victim speaks out

Stratford Police in the area of Bradshaw Drive and McCarthy Road West investigating a shooting that left two people dead and two others injured. (Ashley Bacon/CTV News)

“We weren't sure if there were one shooter or two shooters, or three shooters,” Insp. Mark Taylor told CTV News.

That call wasn’t the first time police had been called to Bradshaw Drive.

Police said they responded around 11 other times for nuisance or noise complaints by the same people involved in the shooting.

“Most of them were very minor in nature, just more of a disturbance or a nuisance kind of call,” explained Taylor. “Our officers would have no idea that it would lead to this extreme.”

Stephanie Irvine and Jonathan Bennett are shown in this photo. (Johnny Bennett/Facebook)

The triple shooting has prompted the Stratford Police Service to re-evaluate its protocols.

“We need to look at – as a service and a community – were there are signs that we didn't see to prevent this?” Taylor said.

According to investigators, the gunman had three registered firearms in his home including a rifle, shotgun and handgun. Police said he used the rifle and the shotgun but not the handgun.

Police don’t typically ask about weapons when responding to an average nuisance or noise complaint – but they might start.

“Knowing that it could lead to something serious as it did the other night,” Taylor explained.

• MORE: Neighbours, friends react to Stratford shooting

Since 2023, there have been about 800 nuisance calls in the city.

Taylor said because of the recent shooting, they will be ramping up discussions about bringing in mediators to help handle disputes with neighbours.

“I think they would be an outside agency that we would call in, like victim services and our mental health workers that we have currently,” he added.

David Tokley speaks with CTV News from a London hospital on Aug. 9, 2024. (Sean Irvine/CTV News London)

Former OPP commissioner reacts

Chris Lewis, a former OPP commissioner who is not involved with this case, said it also falls to the community to be specific when making any call to 911.

“If you think your neighbour is going to shoot you, you should tell police that.”

Lewis said it’s normal for all police services in Ontario to re-evaluate and reflect after a tragedy.

“Any police service that's involved in something like this really should be looking at their policies and protocols to see was there something they missed? There may not have been,” Lewis explained.

More training

Taylor told CTV News that officers will likely go through more training, especially when it comes to active shooter situations.

“In the past you wouldn't train on a street,” he said. “We would focus our training to schools and private residences and factories where we think there would be an active shooter.”

Taylor added the responding officers did the best job they could, responding just four minutes after the call came in, but it’s always helpful to train more for future incidents.

“I’m very impressed with how [officers] acted,” he said.

Since 2019, police said there was only one shooting that lead to injuries. The last time there was a fatal shooting in Stratford was in 1993.