B.C. coroner’s inquest watches stark video of fatal police shooting
BURNABY, B.C. — Disturbing footage showing the final moments of Mehrdad Bayrami’s life played out before a packed inquest chamber on Thursday as his daughter’s muffled sobs were the only sounds heard from the crowd.
A coroner’s inquest is looking into the fatal police shooting of Bayrami, 48, who was killed following a five-hour armed standoff with police outside a Lower Mainland casino in November 2012.
The role of a coroner’s inquest is not to assign blame for an incident but rather to make recommendations aimed at preventing similar events from occurring.
The jurors and a crowded public gallery watched the stark eight-minute video of the conclusion of what began as a police hostage-rescue operation and ended as a standoff after casino employees saw live security footage of a man threatening a woman with a handgun.