B.C. coroner won’t call inquest into death of woman hit by police anti-riot rounds

Ron Rauch and his wife Audrey are photographed at their home in Victoria, Friday, March 5, 2021. Their daughter Lisa Rauch died on Christmas Day 2019 when a tactical officer with the Victoria Police Department shot her in the back of the head with plastic bullets after barricading herself in a room that was on fire. (Chad Hipolito / The Canadian Press)

British Columbia’s chief coroner is taking the unusual step of not calling an inquest into the death of Lisa Rauch, who died after being hit by two plastic bullets fired by a Victoria police officer.

While an inquest is mandatory after deaths in police custody, Coroner Dr. Jatinder Baidwan says in a statement that Rauch wasn’t considered in custody at the time of her death.

The statement says the decision was made after considering the wishes of the woman’s family.

The coroner notes that the circumstances of the 43-year-old woman’s death in December 2019 were also reviewed at a public hearing before former judge Wally Oppal at the direction of the B.C. Police Complaints Commission.

Oppal ruled that Victoria Police Sgt. Ron Kirkwood made a serious error in judgment when he fired the anti-riot weapon into a smoke-filled room and killed Rauch, but it wasn’t malicious.

Oppal ruled last week that Kirkwood should serve a seven-day suspension without pay, saying the fact that the officer and the family had to wait 5 1/2 years for the decision to be made was punishment enough.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 19, 2025.