(Kamloops Daily News) – Patience is running out for Wilbert Bartley’s family as the month of March ticks away with no word yet on whether charges will be recommended in his fatal police-involved shooting.
“The days are just getting longer,” Wilbert’s mom, Catherine Bartley, said Wednesday.
The family last heard a decision on whether two Kamloops Mounties could be charged would come by mid to late March.
If the month ends without a phone call from the B.C. Crown, Bartley, 74, told The Daily News she will phone the Crown’s office in Kamloops and inquire about the delay.
“I can’t understand this,” said Bartley. “It’s not fair. It’s not right. What are they doing? Sitting on their hands?”
A team from Calgary Police Services sent a report on the Bartley shooting to B.C. Crown in December without recommending charges.
The family was told a decision would come in December. Then the date was pushed to mid-February before being delayed again until March.
Bartley has rarely left the house for fear of missing a phone call with some kind of update on the case. She has spoken with a coroner, and learned her son had traces of cocaine, alcohol and methadone in his system when he was shot, she said.
“I can’t get him off my mind,” Bartley said, and cried. “He’s on my mind all the time.”
The CPS report confirms two plainclothes RCMP officers parked their unmarked minivan behind a Toyota 4Runner at the Robo carwash/Esso gas bar/So Espresso coffee shop on Tranquille Road at about 6:15 p.m. on July 30.
The 4Runner, driven by Bartley, reversed and rammed the unmarked police vehicle. One officer fired three shots — two through the 4Runner’s windshield and one through a door window.
Bartley was struck in the head. The vehicle accelerated forward and crashed through the front of the nearby coffee shop.
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