The regional coroner’s office will hold an inquest into the death of Matthew Roke, who was killed in a confrontation with Ontario Provincial Police officers in May 2012.

Dr. Louise McNaughton-Filion, the Regional Supervising Coroner for the East Region’s Ottawa Office, announced the inquest Wednesday afternoon.

Roke, 33, who suffered from schizophrenia, was fatally shot following a confrontation with members of the Grenville County OPP near the carpool lot adjacent to the Highway 401 ramps at the Maitland interchange. The incident happened early in the morning of May 2, 2012.

Dr. McNaughton-Filion’s statement said an inquest is mandatory under the Coroners Act.

The inquest will examine the circumstances surrounding Roke’s death and the jury may make recommendations aimed at preventing similar deaths, it added.

The date, location and presiding coroner have yet to be announced.

Roke’s father, Rev. John Roke, said he and his wife, Jody, are relieved at the news.

“We were hoping that an inquest would happen,” he said.

“We’re actually looking forward to it in some ways in order to address some issues that we saw at that time.”

“We were kind of concerned, when we didn’t hear from anyone for such a long time, that they may have dropped it.”

The inquest will give the family a chance to hear directly from the two OPP officers involved in the incident, said John Roke.

“It’ll certainly impact us emotionally, but it’ll be interesting for us to hear what they have to say, too,” he said.

While Roke understands the officers were faced with a “confrontational situation” on that morning, he also believes the OPP “kind of escalated the situation here with their approach.”

While he accepts the officers did not know what was going through his son’s mind when they entered the situation, Roke believes a mental health professional should have been present at the incident to calm Matthew down.

Also, neither of the subject officers was equipped with a Taser, and the Rokes believe that option would have allowed them to subdue Matthew without killing him.

Roke believes some progress may have been made when the Ontario government last summer allowed police to expand the use of Tasers in the wake of the fatal shooting of teenager Sammy Yatim on a Toronto streetcar

Other concerns Roke hopes to have addressed at the inquest involve families’ difficulties in navigating the mental health system, in particular when it intersects with the justice system.

Matthew was released from a psychiatric hospital without input from his immediate family, a problem his father also hopes will be addressed at the inquest.

The Rokes also had difficulty getting help for Matthew when it was needed, said John Roke, who hopes that, too will be dealt with by the inquest.

In June 2012, the province’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU), which looks into incidents involving police that result in death or serious injury, cleared the two OPP officers who shot Roke, saying one officer feared for his life, while the other feared for the safety of his partner.

The SIU investigation revealed Roke lunged at the officer while making underhanded spearing motions with his knife.

Source: http://www.recorder.ca/2014/02/19/inquest-announced-in-roke-death