'No justification for this': Calls for transparency after Colombian mom fatally shot by B.C. police

One week after Colombian refugee and mother Vanessa Renteria was fatally shot by police in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, advocates are demanding more answers about the circumstances surrounding her death – for the sake of the woman's grieving family.

Several groups gathered in Surrey Thursday to demand transparency from the RCMP, with some speaking on behalf of Renteria's relatives, who are seeking visas to visit Canada in a desperate effort to learn more about what happened to her.

"There is no justification for this," said Nadia Revelo Bolivar, of the Solidarity Committee for Renteria. "The community is going to fight for justice."

So far, few details on what led up to the shooting have been shared by law enforcement.

In a news release, the B.C. RCMP said officers from the Surrey detachment responded to a report of a disturbance at a home in the Cloverdale neighbourhood on Sept. 19, and were told a woman had barricaded herself in a room, where she was "reportedly holding a weapon" near a toddler.

Renteria had an 18-month-old daughter.

The RCMP has declined to answer any questions since – including about whether the toddler was still in the room at the time of the shooting, if any weapon was recovered from the scene, if a translator was present during the incident, or if officers attempted de-escalation tactics – citing an ongoing investigation by the province's police watchdog.

The Independent Investigations Office is tasked with probing all police-related incidents that result in death or serious harm, but some previous cases have dragged on for several years – sometimes due to limited resources, and other times because of pushback from the agencies being investigated.

Meghan McDermott, a lawyer with the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, argued the province's current system for holding police accountable "rarely, if ever, will deliver justice." Since the IIO was founded in 2012, only one officer has been convicted after contesting the charges against them. 

"We stand here today not only in mourning but in anger and frustration," McDermott said of Renteria's fatal confrontation. "Her family deserves to know what happened in those final moments, and the days leading up to it."

"How long will they have to wait?" McDermott asked. "Why is there still no clear account that's been given?"

Renteria was an activist and prominent union member in Colombia who fled to Canada due to death threats, according to SNTT, which represents workers in the transportation and logistics industry in her former country.

Local advocates said the young mother only arrived in B.C. recently, but that she had already spent time in Surrey shelters after allegedly experiencing abuse in the property where she had been living.

McDermott suggested on the night of Renteria's death, she was in a crisis that called for compassion from the RCMP.

"Her death was avoidable," she said. "Why wasn't an effort made to try to understand her situation and de-escalate? Why were her cries for help ignored?"

The officer who opened fire did so less than an hour after the RCMP arrived at the property.

Asked about the case on Thursday, the IIO's chief civilian director was tight-lipped about how long it could take for the investigation to be completed.

“It's far too early at this time to draw any conclusions in this particular case," Jessica Berglund added. "That will all come out at the end of our investigation when we release further information.”

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Yasmin Gandham