Officer describes multiple punches and baton strikes in testimony at Gray inquest

It has been seven and a half years since Mark Gray lost his son Myles after a violent confrontation with Vancouver police and the pain has never dulled.

On Thursday, the fourth day of the coroner's inquest into his son's death, Gray finally found the strength to attend in person.

"I just couldn't come down. I was just so stressed out. Ever since he died, there's always something that re-brings it up," Gray said. "It's like a wound. You sort of heal and then the wound opens up again."

On August 13, 2015, multiple people called 911 to report Myles Gray acting erratically.

Const. Hardeep Sahota was the first Vancouver Police Department officer to respond. Earlier this week she told the inquiry she found Gray threatening and aggressive, so she called for backup.

Sahota testified that as she retreated to wait in her police vehicle, Gray attempted to open the door and pushed down on the window before running into a nearby residential yard.

Her colleague Const. Josh Wong was one of the officers who answered that call.

He took the stand at the inquest Thursday and testified he struck Gray multiple times with his knee, his fist and an extendable baton.

Other officers have already testified that they also kicked and punched Gray as hard as they could.

On the stand, they each said Gray had incredible strength and did not appear to feel pain despite repeated strikes to his head and face.

An autopsy revealed Gray had multiple broken bones, a dislocated jaw, and hemorrhaging in his brain and testicles.

"The injuries are nothing more than a mob beating. This is pure violence at its worst core," said Mike Whyard, a friend of Gray's since childhood. "And in the process, we've lost the trust in a lot of police officers."

Wong testified that after Gray died, he was at VPD headquarters with his notebook open and a pen in his hand about to take notes about what happened that day — but in the end he didn't write anything down.

"I was told by a senior member who was acting as part of the union not to take notes," Wong told the inquest.

Wong is one of six officers involved in Gray's death who are now facing charges under the Police Act for failing to take notes as required by VPD policy and affirmed in many Supreme Court of Canada rulings.

"It's disgusting. Everybody in the room was flabbergasted," said Whyard. "In every other situation that's the first thing you do."

BC's Independent Investigations Office, the watchdog responsible for investigating when someone is seriously injured or killed during an interaction with police, forwarded a file to the Crown for consideration of charges.

The BC Prosecution Service did not bring criminal charges against any of the officers.

The BCPS said the only witnesses to Gray's death were the officers themselves and accused them of providing inconsistent and incomplete statements about what happened.

Const. Eric Birzneck was one of the first three officers to confront Gray and testified that he sprayed him in the face with pepper-spray because he thought Gray presented a threat, although Gray had no weapons and had not physically assaulted any of the officers.

The violent struggle that ensued after that first use of force by police would lead to Gray's death.

Birzneck is now an instructor teaching other VPD officers about use of force techniques.

Despite the evidence presented at the inquest, Gray's family fears they may never get the answers they seek about why Gray died that day while experiencing an apparent mental health crisis.

"It's pretty sad. I think about him every day. Every day," said Mark Gray.