Image Credit: Bowers Funeral Service

By Victor Kaisar

Jeremy Myrhaug

Coroners inquest to probe 2020 death of Shuswap man in RCMP standoff

Jul 24, 2025 | 4:52 PM

TAPPEN, B.C. – A BC Coroners Service inquest into the 2020 death of a man in the Shuswap will get underway in Burnaby in September.

In a news release, the BC Coroners Service says the two-week-long inquest into the death of Jeremy Charles Myrhaug, 40, will take place at the Burnaby Coroners Court from Sept. 8 to Sept. 19.

It will be led by presiding coroner John Knox and a jury of five people who will hear evidence from witnesses under oath in a bid to determine the facts surrounding Myrhaug’s death after he was killed following a lengthy standoff with police on Jan. 8, 2020.

According to police, they had responded to a mischief complaint and arrived to find a man armed with a knife and a firefighter’s axe in a house.

Police had planned to arrest the man under the Mental Health Act and for outstanding warrants. They fired a tear gas canister in an effort to force him to leave the house — and he did.

One Man's Opinion

COLLINS: There is no art in Trump's deals

Oct 30, 2025

SOUND OFF

SOUND OFF: Growing B.C.'s clean energy economy

Oct 29, 2025

Question of the Week

Have you been cheering on the Blue Jays on their road to the World Series?

Oct 27, 2025

A investigation report by the Independent Investigations Office (IIO), B.C.’s police watchdog, said the man was shot by an RCMP officer as he tried to flee the scene in his vehicle. He was hit in the head, chest and forearm, but the officer was cleared of any wrongdoing in December 2020.

Former IIO Chief Civilian Director Ronald MacDonald said at the time the officer was “clearly at imminent risk of very serious harm or death” and that his use of lethal force was justified.

Under Section 18(2) of the Coroners Act, corners inquests are mandatory for any deaths that occur while a person was detained by or in the custody of a peace officer.

These inquests are not meant to find fault and will instead aim to make recommendations to prevent future deaths under similar circumstances. It will also aim to ensure that the circumstances surrounding the death will not be overlooked, concealed or ignored.

“The jury will have the opportunity to make recommendations though the jury must not make any finding of legal responsibility or express any conclusion of law,” the Coroners Service statement said.