'No evidence' RCMP shooting victim fired at officers

More than a year and a half after a father was shot dead and his daughter injured in a police confrontation,B.C.'s police watchdog is challengingthe RCMP's official account.

John Buehler, 51,died after anEmergency Response Team was deployed to a forested area at Lake Kinbasket south of Valemount, in September, 2014. His adult daughter, Shanna Buehler, was shot andrushed to hospital.

Several hours after the fatal incident, the RCMP released a public statement saying, "Shots were fired and police officers returned fire."

No 'exchange of gunfire' - police watchdog

Now, after a lengthy investigation, B.C.'s Independent Investigations Office says there's no evidence to support that claim.

"There was no independent evidence to suggest an exchange of gunfire took place," said Marten Youssef,IIO'smanager of strategic communication.

Youssef said shortly after the shootings, the RCMPprovided information tothe IIO that 'an exchange of gunfire took place between police officers and an adult male.'

"The IIO investigation identified no independent evidence to suggest the exchange of gunfire took place."

It's pretty difficult to mistake that there was a gunfight, when there was no gunfight."- B.C. Civil Liberties Association

The IIO investigation alsoconcluded an officer "may have committed an offence" during the incident and has forwarded the file to Crown Counsel.

A Crown spokesman said no decisions have yet been made about whether a charge is warranted in this case.

RCMP'seized 2 rifles at the scene'

The IIO does not make recommendations on charge approval. And the threshold of referring matters to the Crown is lower for the IIO than for other law enforcement agencies in B.C.

Staff Sgt. Rob Vermuelen, Senior Media Relations Officer with B.C. RCMPCommunication Services, saidit would be inappropriate to comment on the IIO's findings while the matter is being reviewed by Crown.

"It's important not to make assumptions," said Vermeulen.

But Josh Patterson, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, is upset.

"It's a major concern to us when we find the information given to us by theRCMPon a critical incident like this turns out to be completely unsubstantiated."

"I'd be very interested to know why it was theRCMPgot it so wrong in this case. Was it that officers and witnesses involved said things that weren't true? Were they mistaken?

"In my limitedexperience, it's pretty difficult to mistake that there was a gunfight, when there was no gunfight," said Patterson.

There has been very little information released about the incident and about the man who was shot dead.

'I just don't think he had to die that way'

ValemountlocalReneNunweilergot to know John Buehler when her company provided him with internet service.

She saidhe was a very religious man who told her he'd worked as a crew foreman in the Alberta oil patch. She said he was concerned about an imminent economic collapse and went camping on crown land with his grown daughter and dogs he had trained to guard them.

Hikers andhorseback riders on trails in the Kinbasket Lake arearaised concerns about Buehler and his dogs.

And when Buehler moved into a trapper's cabin, the owner called RCMP.

Court records show Buehler waschargedwith mischief, uttering threats, and illegal gun possession three months before he died. The charges were never proven in court.

Buehler didn't show up for a court date. Two weeks later, the Emergency Response Team moved in. According to RCMP, police began "surveillance on a cabin" that was illegally occupied.

Two days later, on September 17, 2014, the RCMP said a man and a woman on quads spotted officersand "shots were fired and police officers returned fire." That's the account that now has been challenged by the IIO.

The RCMP noted that two rifles were seized at the scene and secured as exhibits.

"I don't know if I can make sense of it," said Nunweiler, who said she was devastated by Buehler's death. "I was really upset. I just don't think he had to die that way."