Family Says DeGroot Was 'Executed' in Slocan Manhunt

The family of Peter DeGroot, the man who was killed at the end of a five day manhunt in the Kootenays, spoke out on his death on Monday.

RCMP in the small town of Slocan, B.C. responded October 9 to an incident between two individuals. DeGroot allegedly shot RCMP with a rifle and when police returned fire, they say he fled into the woods. The entire community was in lockdown as police searched for five days. On October 13, the 45-year-old DeGroot was shot following an encounter with RCMP Emergency Response Team (ERT) members in a remote cabin. The Independent Investigations Office is investigating the incident.

Peter DeGroot. (Photo Credit: Facebook)

“What I'm about to say is highly personal and extremely emotional for me,” began Danna DeGroot, DeGroot's sister. She gave a statement that she said was to correct a “ridiculous level of character defamation” during the manhunt in Slocan, B.C. According to the family, DeGroot was highly educated and pursued various degrees. They corrected some reports, saying that DeGroot didn't serve in the army, didn't have post-traumatic stress disorder or a criminal record, was not schizophrenic, and was not on antidepressants.

She admitted that he had some mental health issues as a result of an aneurism in 1997, which began three years of physical deterioration. He'd had six grand mal seizures, and Danna said that eventually they stopped with a high fat diet and he rehabilitated himself. According to his family, DeGroot worked hard to live independently, and went back to reading, writing, trapping and farming. He did have to be supplied with money because his fragile condition made him unable to work.

Danna said that when the family didn't hear from him, they emailed his representative at a brain injury clinic in Castlegar, who contacted RCMP. “The RCMP said that they'd laid eyes on him in August, and that is how he may have been known to police,” said Danna. “But it's a small town.”

Peter, come in, so we can talk. #Slocan

— Southeast RCMP (@SoutheastRCMP) October 13, 2014

According to his family, there had been a complaint made to the SPCA against him the morning of the incident. They say that one man from the SPCA personally bought feed and brought it to DeGroot, but realized that DeGroot had enough when he got there. Danna said that DeGroot “was calm. He was his usual self. They had their conversation, everything looked good, and off he [the SPCA worker] went. The animals were not and are not malnourished.”

She said she understood three RCMP officers were dispatched three hours later to arrest DeGroot for allegedly shoving someone. She claims that they drove up, created a blockade, and stayed behind them with guns. According to Danna, DeGroot had guns, which she said is common to protect domestic animals on a farm near the bush.

“It is our understanding that the police arrived at the property and opened fire on my brother and that he ran away,” said Danna. “We consider any shots he may have fired to be in self-defence.”

Once she heard of the incident, Danna says she called the RCMP lead negotiator and offered to help, saying her brother was violent and that she could talk to her brother in a standoff situation. She says that the RCMP told her not to come, but she drove up anyway. Danna said in the press conference that she offered multiple times to walk into the bush and get him, saying she wasn't afraid of him.

She said that constables found her and informed her after DeGroot had died. “They'd received a tip. ERT officers had gone to the cabin where he'd been spotted,” Danna said. She says that the officer told her that “three officers had opened the door to the cabin, and that DeGroot was on his front with a gun pointed at them and that they'd killed him.”

Danna said that her brother was “executed”. The family is planning to establish a foundation or fund in DeGroot's name between now and the Independent Investigations Office inquest. “Once the inquest is concluded, we will assess the findings and decide on a direction to pursue, which will be a possible civil suit in order to hold those accountable for our brother's wrongful death.”

“In short, we are outraged.”