Police misconduct ruling in death of B.C. woman Lisa Rauch, killed by anti-riot round

Winnipeg Free Press

24-05-2025

An adjudicator appointed by British Columbia's police watchdog has found a Victoria officer committed misconduct when he fired an anti-riot weapon at a woman in 2019, striking her in the head and killing her.
Retired judge Wally Oppal ruled for the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner that Sgt. Ron Kirkwood's use of the so-called ARWEN rounds against Lisa Rauch was 'reckless and unnecessary.'
No date has been set for Oppal's decision on possible discipline or other recommendations.
Rauch had locked herself in an apartment on Christmas Day, 2019, resulting in a police call that ended with her death when Kirkwood fired three ARWEN rounds into the room.
The anti-riot weapon Kirkwood used against Rauch fires plastic projectiles, and a police inspector instructed him to 'target' the woman as soon as he saw her, Oppal's ruling said.
Oppal's ruling said Rauch, 43, was addicted to drugs and had been drinking alcohol and using crystal meth with a friend at an apartment, when she went into a 'drug induced psychosis.'
When police entered the apartment, which was filled with smoke from a fire, they believed they saw Rauch standing in the room, but she had instead been sitting on a couch with her back to them, 'not standing facing them.'
Two plastic rounds hit her in the back of the head, 'causing significant trauma,' Oppal's ruling said.
Kirkwood, who was a constable at the time of the incident, said he wouldn't have fired the rounds 'if he knew he was aiming at her head,' and said it was difficult to find Rauch afterwards due to the thickness of the smoke.
Oppal said Kirkwood's assessment that the situation justified firing the weapon was 'objectively unreasonable' due to Kirkwood's obscured view of the room.
He found the allegation of an abuse of authority proven.
Oppal found that Kirkwood's failure to make notes did not constitute a neglect of duty.
Although this was contrary to Kirkwood's 'common law duty,' it was in line with what his force expected at the time, and accorded with his superior officers' directions, Oppal found.
Police Complaint Commissioner Prabhu Rajan said the case involved the first public hearing called under the B.C. Police Act into a person's death.
'Rauch lost her life, and her family and friends are surely continuing to deal with their tragic loss. All involved, including (Sgt.) Kirkwood and the many first responders, dealt with a traumatic experience,' Rajan said in a news release.
'I am hopeful that lessons can be learned from this tragedy.'
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 23, 2025.