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Coroner's inquest for B.C. man shot and killed by RCMP officer in 2014 underway

Coroner's inquest begins

The coroner's inquest into the shooting of Peter de Groot, seven years ago in Nelson B.C. got underway on Monday.

de Groot lost his life while at a remote cabin in 2014 in the Slocan area of the Kootenays after he was shot and killed by an RCMP officer.

Mounties indicate the 45-year-old de Groot exchanged gunfire with officers after they arrived at his home, he then fled, leading to a four-day search.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced the inquest, originally scheduled for spring 2020, to be delayed.

de Groot’s sister Danna spoke to CTV News Vancouver in 2019, they are hoping the inquest will help provide answers to some of the families questions, including why she wasn't allowed to contact her brother in an attempt to bring the incident to a resolution and they want to know why Mounties showed up at de Groot's home in the first place.

“He was not the person they portrayed him to be,” she said. “He was very, very special to a lot of people. He was super intelligent.”

Danna says her brother was a PhD candidate but after suffering an aneurysm at 29, his life went in a different direction.

The officer accused of shooting and killing de Groot has since been cleared of any wrongdoing by the
Independent Investigations Office.

de Groot's family has also filed a civil lawsuit against the RCMP, which is being deferred until the inquest concludes, sometime in early October.

-with files from CTV News Vancouver



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