Peter de Groot's brother Miles de Groot, centre, fights back tears as he looks at his father Peter de Groot Sr., right, while his sister Danna de Groot, second left, reads a statement during a news conference in Vancouver, B.C., on Monday October 20, 2014. Forty-five-year-old Peter de Groot, the subject of a police manhunt in southern British Columbia earlier this month was killed by members of the RCMP's emergency response team.
Image Credit: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
October 20, 2014 - 7:30 PM
SLOCAN - The family of a B.C. man who was shot by the RCMP during a manhunt that shut down a small town says police failed to attempt to end the ordeal peacefully and instead "executed" him.
Peter de Groot was killed last week, several days after he disappeared in the bush over a confrontation with the police in the community of Slocan, in southeastern B.C.
At the time, the RCMP alleged de Groot shot at officers before fleeing, and the force told the public de Groot was known to police and should be considered armed and dangerous.
The man's sister, Danna de Groot, says her brother had no history of violence or run-ins with the police, but rather he was a gifted scholar before a brain aneurysm left him in pain and with poor co-ordination.
She says the RCMP escalated the situation at every turn and refused the family's repeated offers to help police find and talk to de Groot.
De Groot says her family is considering a civil suit against the RCMP, which is declining to respond to the allegations.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014