A day before Vancouver's festival killing, the suspect told police items were thrown into his SUV
Accused mass murderer Kai-ji Adam Lo called Richmond RCMP the day before 11 people were killed at a Filipino street festival and claimed someone had thrown something into his SUV.
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An officer talked to Lo on the phone just before 3 a.m. on Friday, but there was no further followup, a police source said. The Mountie then made an entry into a police computer system known as PRIME.
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Sources said Lo was considered a 'frequent flyer' who called police regularly about his fears people were doing things to him and to the black SUV that police say mowed people down at the Lapu Lapu Day festival just after 8 p.m. on Saturday.
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He was on 'extended release' from hospital and under the care of a mental-health team, Vancouver Coastal Health confirmed earlier.
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Vancouver police Sgt. Steve Addison said the VPD became aware of the April 25 interaction with police only after the killings. He said investigators ran the suspect's name through the PRIME database and got a hit for the April 25 incident.
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But he said earlier that Lo had many mental-health interactions with police before Saturday.
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Dr. Bill MacEwan, a psychiatrist who works at the Surrey pretrial jail, told Postmedia News that the volume of Lo's calls and interactions with police and Lo's apparent level of paranoia should have raised red flags for his mental-health team.
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'The question is, 'If they did see him, did they reassess how he was doing? Was he actually getting adequate treatment?'' MacEwan asked Wednesday. 'If they were not following up and not hearing about these episodes and then taking them into account … the system is failing.'
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MacEwan said mental-health teams meet regularly with those under their care in the community to ensure they're taking medications and abiding by other release conditions. Meetings are usually more frequent if someone requires extra monitoring, he said.
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Even if Lo, a diagnosed schizophrenic, was on his medication, 'the degree of paranoia is not something that should be ignored,' MacEwan said.
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Vancouver police wouldn't provide more details Wednesday about the mental-health-related interactions they had with Lo. The east Vancouver resident is facing eight counts of second-degree murder, but more charges are anticipated.
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Vancouver Coastal Health said in its statement that there was no prior sign that Lo was 'a public safety risk.'
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Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said Wednesday he's working with community leaders to plan a public memorial for the Lapu Lapu victims that will be held in about two weeks. And he said he wants a provincial government commission into the vehicle attack to 'deal with the very real mental-health crisis across B.C.'
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The admitted misconduct is described in an agreed-upon statement of facts. McConnell sent repeated unsolicited and unwelcome sexual messages to younger female VPD officers, as well as students at post-secondary institutions where he taught classes on criminology. He admitted to making sexual comments to a younger officer about her sexual preferences and his own sexual fantasies. One night in 2016, while a then-47-year-old McConnell was at a pub with his former students, he asked a 25-year-old woman questions about her underwear and what colour it was. When she left the pub and flagged a taxi, McConnell followed her into the cab where he leaned over and tried to kiss her against her wishes, before she exited the vehicle. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Some of the women didn't report the incidents about McConnell because of fear about potential affects on their careers. 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In a recent OPCC case involving a New Westminster police officer who made inappropriate sexual advances toward subordinates, the department's chief argued in favour of dismissal. Baird Ellan described the New West file as more serious than McConnell's because it involved more physical contact, but 'comparable,' and noted that in that case, the chief's evidence contributed to a finding of dismissal. In McConnell's case, however, the VPD decided not to intervene. 'In the absence of an assertion on the department's part that the proposed terms are not workable, despite what I consider having been an adequate opportunity for them to raise the issue, I have no basis for concluding other than that they are workable,' Baird Ellan wrote. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The department's decision not to intervene has upset several current and retired officers, who believe any penalty short of dismissal would bring the department into disrepute. 'You would've thought the department would have stepped in. You're running a business protecting people,' said Dave Dickson, a 28-year VPD veteran who retired in 2003. 'You allow a guy like that, that's got a problem like that, back on the job, that just destroys the confidence people have in the police department.' One current VPD officer said the situation is 'causing a lot of morale issues' inside the department. 'Why didn't VPD take a role in this? They sat back when they had an opportunity to get involved,' he said. Retired VPD member Dave Dickson at his home in Surrey. Photo by Jason Payne / PNG The current officers and some of the retired ones spoke on the condition they wouldn't be named. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Not every VPD member agrees. One current officer said based on their experience, the department's decision not to seek standing in McConnell's hearing was 'likely intended to preserve neutrality and ensure the case was assessed solely on its merits' and to respect the independence of the process. Deputy Police Complaint Commissioner Andrea Spindler said police departments often participate in these kinds of hearings, as the VPD has in previousproceedings. 'This is their most senior sergeant with multiple allegations of sexualized misconduct against their female officers. And chiefs are responsible for setting the tone for their workplace cultures and ensuring appropriate standards,' Spindler said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'I'm not opining what position they should have taken. … But it would have been an opportunity for the adjudicator, the public, and VPD members to hear their perspectives on these issues and their leadership's expectations,' she said. 'It's important for police departments to be at the table.' Mike Carr, a former VPD officer who retired as a sergeant in 2003, said he worried how this outcome would be viewed by younger officers. As a police officer, 'you know if you make a mistake, you could be gone. There's no guarantee that your position is forever,' Carr said. 'It keeps you in line. This just sends the totally wrong message. 'Twenty days (suspension), … a reduction in rank, big deal. He should be fired.' The VPD confirmed this week that McConnell is on leave and hasn't yet returned to work. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. A source said that McConnell's leave means he hasn't yet begun serving the unpaid suspension announced last month. It wasn't clear when that might happen. In an emailed statement, the VPD said: 'We acknowledge that there is always room for improvement when it comes to strengthening workplace culture, especially when it involves the safety and well-being of our employees. In a large organization, like the VPD, with over 2,000 employees there will be incidents of unacceptable behaviour. A single incident of sexual harassment is one too many. 'We continue to encourage any employee who feels harassed to come forward so that the matter can be thoroughly investigated,' the statement said. 'We strongly believe there should be meaningful consequences when someone is proven to have violated our core values of treating each other with respect and ensuring a safe and professional workplace.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The VPD didn't make anyone available for an interview and didn't respond to written questions about why it chose not to participate in McConnell's hearing. The Vancouver Police Union didn't reply to a request for comment. In Baird Ellan's decision on McConnell's discipline, she recommended that the VPD should implement a stand-alone sexual harassment policy. The VPD said it has created a new stand-alone policy on sexual harassment as 'a result of the McConnell decision.' The new policy hasn't yet been implemented and is awaiting Vancouver police board approval. Darryl Plecas, a professor emeritus at the University of the Fraser Valley and expert on police oversight, said that adjudicators in cases like this must consider disciplinary outcomes of past cases when deciding upon appropriate penalties. In McConnell's case, the adjudicator mentioned two other OPCC public hearings for sexual misconduct, both involving physical contact to varying degrees, that didn't result in dismissal. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The outcome of McConnell's case, Plecas said, will make other police leaders less likely to fire officers for similar misconduct in the future. 'In other words, going forward, we are conceding that a police officer who demonstrates a pattern of sexually harassing people will most certainly remain on the job,' Plecas said. Public trust in police depends on knowing officers will treat people respectfully, Plecas said. While isolated incidents of disrespect could be forgiven, McConnell's case shows 'a pattern of disrespect, and as such suggests that he is not someone who should be employed as a police officer.' One current VPD officer said 'the membership is very upset' about the McConnell case, and worries it illustrates a culture of sexism inside the department that isn't improving. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'For a while, the pendulum was swinging in the right direction' and the workplace culture was getting better, especially for women, the officer said. 'But we're regressing.' Bergler said this case illustrates what she calls 'the VPD way.' When people, especially men who are well-connected inside the department, are accused of this kind of misconduct the 'standard response has been to circle the wagons and insulate the problem,' she said, while whistleblowers, especially women, are 'discouraged, then discredited, discounted and ultimately discarded — that's how it feels.' dfumano@ Read More
