RCMP sued over response
to 2008 fatal shooting

Keith Fraser, Vancouver Province, Oct. 30, 2011

 

Guthrie McKay Lisa Dudley dead RCMP Mike White Theresa Ness negligent
Guthrie McKay and Lisa Dudley were killed after being shot in an incident on Sept. 18, 2008.
McKay died instantly and Dudley was found tied to a chair four days later, but died in hospital.
Photo: Submitted to Vancouver Province.

 

The mother of Lisa Cheryl Dudley is suing RCMP for allegedly failing to respond properly to a report of shots fired that were eventually linked to the murder of her daughter. Dudley, 37, was shot twice in the neck while seated in a chair in her Mission home on Sept. 18, 2008, according to a lawsuit filed by Rosemarie Surakka.

The B.C. Supreme Court lawsuit says Dudley was paralyzed but did not die immediately. Her partner, Guthrie McKay, was also shot but died of his wounds.

At the time of the shootings, a neighbour called RCMP to report that he and another neighbour had heard what sounded like six shots in a row, followed by a crashing sound.

A civilian employee at the RCMP's Chilliwack operations control centre failed to include important information on a dispatch ticket and failed to update that ticket, says the suit.

After responding to the call, Const. Mike White spoke to dispatcher Theresa Ness.

"Const. White and Ms. Ness expressed skepticism about, and laughed at, the report of six guns shots in a row," said the suit.

Another dispatcher asked for an additional car to respond to the call, but White radioed that he did not require another car.

White drove along the street where the shooting happened and met briefly with another officer before being dispatched to another call.

White reported that he hadn't found any evidence of a crash or of shots fired, says the suit.

Four days later, on Sept. 22, a neighbour approached the back door of Dudley's house and found McKay lying dead on the floor in plain view and Dudley seated in a chair seriously wounded.

Paramedics were called and found Dudley conscious but stuck to her chair by dried blood. She was treated and transferred to the helicopter evacuation team, but she went into cardiac arrest and died.

"Ms. Dudley was deprived of her right to life and security of the person due to the failures of the RCMP and its officers, employees and agents to adequately and reasonably respond to the complaint lodged," says the lawsuit.

"In particular, Ms. Dudley's demise was caused or contributed to by her being trapped, paralyzed and bleeding, in her chair for nearly four days."

Three people have been charged in the shootings, described by police as targeted killings.

The lawsuit seeks a declaration that Dudley's rights were violated as well as unspecified damages.

No response has been filed to the notice of claim. RCMP spokeswoman Cpl. Annie Linteau said the Mounties do not comment on civil lawsuits.

RCMP leave woman paralyzed by bullet wounds
to bleed to death over four days
Laughing Mountie Mike White’s disgraceful conduct
gets him a one-day suspension and a promotion soon after
The so-called investigation into RCMP Corporal Mike White’s conduct
was as egregious as the Mountie’s behaviour
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