Inquiry probes 2008 arrest death

An inquiry began Monday about a B.C. man who died after Calgary police used a stun gun to arrest him three years ago.

Gordon Walker Bowe, a 30-year-old resident of Castlegar, B.C. died one day after he was arrested in Calgary while intoxicated by cocaine on Nov. 1, 2008.

The father of two was taken into custody after officers found him behaving erratically in the basement of a vacant home in the 500 block of 42nd Street S.E.

Staff Sgt. Jim Gamlin who was a team commander for the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT), which probes any use of force by police that results in serious injury or death told the inquiry that officers struggled to subdue Bowe, even with several Taser shots.

ASIRT's probe concluded in 2009 that while a Taser was fired during the arrest, Bowe had "life-threatening levels of cocaine in his body."

Bowe's death was caused by excited delirium due to the ingestion of cocaine, ASIRT said, citing the medical examiner's report. The medical examiner is set to testify on Tuesday along with a representative from Taser International, the makers of the stun guns.

But members of Bowe's family are not satisfied with that explanation.

"We just miss him, we want answers," said Miriam Bowe, the B.C.-man's stepmother. She came from Vancouver for the inquiry along with Bowe's father, common-law wife and her father.

"We want to know who's accountable for this and why such drastic actions were taken. Gordon was not a violent man," she said.

According to Bowe's family, the arresting officers should have recognized the state he was in and treated him accordingly.

Provincial court Judge Heather Lamoureux will hear three days of testimony from witnesses before the proceedings adjourn, to resume again in August.