Provincial coroner investigating the death of Perth County man that passed away following police interaction
The death of a Perth county man following an interaction with OPP on April 14, 2018, is at the centre of a coroner’s inquest.
Regional Supervising Coroner Dr. Elizabeth Urbantke announced on Wednesday that the inquest into the death of Richard Racz will begin on September 16.
The inquest will examine the circumstances surrounding his death at the age of 61, and recommend further actions to prevent deaths of a similar nature in the future.
The inquest is expected to last eight days, and the jury will hear from approximately eight witnesses.
A previous investigation by the SIU into a death involving officers interaction with a 61-year-old man in Perth County on the same day, indicated that shortly before 5:00 p.m. that day, the man’s wife and daughter placed a 911 call indicating that he had several firearms, and that they feared for their safety.
The woman and her daughter fled the scene, and officers arrived on the scene within minutes. The man attempted to get officers to shoot him, and negotiators attempted to get the man to surrender his weapons.
Although officers attempted to engage anti-riot equipment to safely apprehend the man, the incident ended when the man took his own life.
The SIU’s investigation concluded in 2019 that the officers were not at fault.
The coroner’s act dictates that an inquest into Racz’ death is mandatory, as he died following an interaction with OPP officers.
In the inquest, which will begin Monday, Dr. John Carlisle will be the presiding officer and Indira Stewart will be inquest counsel.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Prime Minister Trudeau meets Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau landed in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Friday evening to meet with U.S.-president elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, sources confirm to CTV News.
'Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!': Details emerge in Boeing 737 incident at Montreal airport
New details suggest that there were communication issues between the pilots of a charter flight and the control tower at Montreal's Mirabel airport when a Boeing 737 made an emergency landing on Wednesday.
Hit man offered $100,000 to kill Montreal crime reporter covering his trial
Political leaders and press freedom groups on Friday were left shell-shocked after Montreal news outlet La Presse revealed that a hit man had offered $100,000 to have one of its crime reporters assassinated.
Questrade lays off undisclosed number of employees
Questrade Financial Group Inc. says it has laid off an undisclosed number of employees to better fit its business strategy.
Cucumbers sold in Ontario, other provinces recalled over possible salmonella contamination
A U.S. company is recalling cucumbers sold in Ontario and other Canadian provinces due to possible salmonella contamination.
Billboard apologizes to Taylor Swift for video snafu
Billboard put together a video of some of Swift's achievements and used a clip from Kanye West's music video for the song 'Famous.'
Musk joins Trump and family for Thanksgiving at Mar-a-Lago
Elon Musk had a seat at the family table for Thanksgiving dinner at Mar-a-Lago, joining President-elect Donald Trump, Melania Trump and their 18-year-old son.
John Herdman resigns as head coach of Toronto FC
John Herdman, embroiled in the drone-spying scandal that has dogged Canada Soccer, has resigned as coach of Toronto FC.
Weekend weather: Parts of Canada could see up to 50 centimetres of snow, wind chills of -40
Winter is less than a month away, but parts of Canada are already projected to see winter-like weather.