File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC News)

By Sydney Chisholm

police shootout

Coroners inquest into 2018 police shootout death near Rose Hill begins

May 6, 2024 | 6:15 PM

KAMLOOPS – The coroner’s inquest into the death of a man who died in the 2018 police shootout in Rose Hill has begun at the Kamloops Court House.

On Monday morning (May 6), seven jury members assembled to hear the evidence surrounding the death of 35-year-old Eugene Marcano.

Over the course of three days, 10 witnesses are expected to testify, including two eyewitnesses, four Kamloops RCMP officers, an Independent Investigations Office (IIO) investigator, two medical experts and a police use-of-force expert.

A 2019 report from BC police watchdog agency, the IIO, states Marcano initiated a shootout with Kamloops Mounties.

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According to the report, RCMP members were responding to a call about a suspicious truck and trailer parked on Rose Hill.

Marcano became agitated while interacting with the officers and retreated into the trailer before opening fire on the officers with a shotgun.

Mounties returned fire, hitting Marcano dozens of times, according to the report.

The IIO determined the returned shots were justified, officers were acting in self-defence after making “routine inquiries” about a man reported to be camping on private land in somewhat suspicious circumstances.

Coroners inquests are public hearings held to determine the facts surrounding a death and to make recommendations aimed at preventing future loss of life in similar circumstances.