Family to mark one year since a young man was shot and killed by police in Surrey
Posted July 14, 2016 9:40 am.
Last Updated July 14, 2016 11:17 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
SURREY (NEWS 1130) – Nearly a year after an unarmed young man was shot and killed by Mounties outside an RCMP office in South Surrey, his family is still waiting for answers.
Hudson Brooks’ mother is calling for change, as she gets set to honour her son, who died at age 20.
Jennifer Brooks, who is behind a Facebook group called Justice for Hudson, says the way families and communities are treated when something like this happens needs to change.
“When your child dies, you don’t get a phone call 12 hours later, saying your son is deceased and we can’t tell you [any details] — and you’re just going to have sit there and be patient and wait. That’s not fair at all. They should release the information to the family,” she argues.
Brooks argues officers didn’t have to shoot Hudson. But according to police, he was suicidal and screaming at 152 Street and 18 Avenue around 2:30 a.m. on July 18, 2016.
Brooks thinks something else could have been done to de-escalate the situation.
“I am willing — after this investigation is over — to sit down with the IIO, to sit down with the RCMP, to start making change because there has to be changes made in the system.”
She’s holding a candlelight vigil in Hudson’s memory Monday evening at 7 p.m. at the intersection where he died.
