One of two officers who shot and killed a Mill Bay man in 2018 remembers experiencing a sinking feeling when he spoke to the man’s mother at the Shawnigan Lake RCMP detachment shortly before the shooting.
The woman wanted to report that her son was “channelling the devil,” talking about “ascending” to another plane and had dropped an unknown pill in her drink and tried to get her to consume it.
“She believed he would go ballistic when police arrived and officers should expect violence,” Const. Dylan Clarkson testified Tuesday at the start of a coroners inquest into the death of 27-year-old Christopher Bloomfield on Nov. 10, 2018.
Clarkson explained the fear that took hold as Marilyn Bloomfield described her son’s mental state.
She appeared exhausted and afraid, Clarkson thought, and she believed her son was delusional, warning officers he would do the opposite of anything he was told to do.
He had refused to leave the mobile home they shared in Cedar Creek Mobile Home Park when she asked and had pushed her into a hutch, hurting her back, he said.
Marilyn Bloomfield told officers she had left the home and planned to stay with a friend for her own safety.
Bloomfield had a long history of drug use, including psychedelics and hallucinogenics, his friends and psychiatrist testified.
Clarkson said his mind flashed to images of “dead Mounties in trailers,” referencing a photo he saw during his training.
“I don’t want to be one of those,” he told his partner, Sgt. Donald Gaven.
Clarkson and Gaven determined Bloomfield could be arrested for administering a noxious substance and for assault.
Gaven testified he felt uncomfortable attempting to arrest Bloomfield with just two officers, but there were no other officers on duty at the small detachment. He called around and another officer agreed to come in to help, Gaven said.
The officers went to the mobile home and looked through windows to see if they could spot Bloomfield, Clarkson said, describing this as “very, very high risk” and one of his least favourite parts of the job.
He said when they knocked on the door of the mobile home, Bloomfield took one look at officers, locked the deadbolt and asked: “What’s up?”
When Clarkson said they were there to arrest him, Bloomfield ran away from the door.
“I firmly believed Chris was either about to injure or kill himself based on what he was saying or find a weapon and injure and kill us,” Clarkson said.
The officers entered the home and attempted to surround Bloomfield. As Clarkson moved through the home, he heard Gaven yell out, “Taser, Taser, Taser,” to indicate he was using his Taser. The Taser failed to incapacitate Bloomfield.
Clarkson entered the dining room to see Bloomfield holding something green with a long handle, which Clarkson believed was a barbecue lighter.
Clarkson moved closer and Bloomfield turned his gaze from Gaven to him.
“I’ll never forget the look on his face. His eyes seemed wild,” Clarkson said, adding Bloomfield appeared almost cartoonish.
That’s when he realized the green object was a knife. Bloomfield moved toward him, making stabbing motions, Clarkson said. As Clarkson backed up to get away, Bloomfield managed to nick his hand, leaving a small cut.
“There was no doubt in my mind if he got close to me, he was going to kill me,” Clarkson testified.
He fired on Bloomfield until he stopped advancing. Bloomfield staggered back to a couch and sat down, slumping over but still holding the knife, Clarkson said.
“I think he said: ‘OK, I’m done,’ ” he said.
Bloomfield made an “animalistic shout” and threw the knife toward the officers, Clarkson said.
Clarkson told Bloomfield to get onto his stomach and when he did not, Clarkson physically moved him to handcuff him.
Bloomfield was still breathing but his breath had become shallow and raspy, he said. Eventually he stopped breathing inside the home and no longer had a pulse, Clarkson said.
Clarkson, who narrated the events leading to Bloomfield’s death in a calm, confident tone, paused to steady his voice as he described calling his wife to let her know he was OK.
“I think Chris chose me as his vehicle [for death],” he said. “And then it came down to me having to make the choice that it was either him or me.”
Asked if he would make any recommendations to avoid future deaths in a similar situation, Clarkson said he didn’t believe the three officers could have done anything differently with the resources available to them and that involuntary treatment is the only option that might have prevented Bloomfield’s death.
Marilyn Bloomfield, who has since died, described Bloomfield in his obituary as her “loving son” who “lived his short life to the fullest.” “He will be greatly missed, but his light will now be shining over the whole universe,” she wrote.
Two of Bloomfield’s friends who testified Tuesday described him as a dreamer and a creative spirit who loved nature and animals, cared deeply about his parents and loved to share his passion for psilocybin mushrooms and hallucinogenics.
He was passionate about using psychedelics as a form of healing, but had recently started experimenting with a drug similar to PCP that worried his friends, long-time friend Kyren Teufel testified.
Friends were concerned about Bloomfield in the days leading to his death because of a Facebook post he made describing a violent sexual assault at a party.
Teufel turned to writing about his friend to process his grief, penning a book that combines his own writing with Bloomfield’s.
“I strongly believe he was doing great things with his life. He was a very smart person. We all miss him very much,” he said.
