Friends identify man killed in standoff with RCMP as Abbotsford homeless advocate

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — The BC Association of Drug War Survivors says one of their co-founders was shot and killed by police in Lytton earlier this month.

Ann Livingston, another founding member of the group, says Barry Shantz has been identified by friends and family members as the man who RCMP shot on Jan. 13 after a six-hour standoff that began after police received a call of a distressed man with a weapon. There were two other people in the home at the time, but no one else was harmed.

RELATED: Man dies after being shot by police in Lytton

Shantz was instrumental in defeating bylaws that restricted camping in Abbotsford’s parks and advocating for harm reduction services in the city.

Livingston says the changes he helped fight for were celebrated and significant for the community, but he was a difficult man.

“He was so respected and loved in Abbotsford. He stuck with those guys, showed up with coffee and donuts, loved everyone–he was a real profound force,” she explains. “I think Barry will be remembered as a hero, as someone who was uncompromising and vigilant. He just kept it up. Other people would drop the ball and he just kept it going. He was a real hard worker and he kept real solidarity with the guys on the street.”

She says he wasn’t always easy to work with, even for those who were fighting on the same side as him.

“Barry had a real constant conflict thing that he was doing and it didn’t always work out for the group as well. He had a way of alienating our allies. It was always difficult to deal with him.”

Shantz spent years in prison on drug charges in the U.S. and Livingston says the experience left him traumatized.

“He had severe trauma for sure,” she says. “There’s no way to be jailed in the United States and not come out with some damage.”

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Ward Draper, who works with the homeless through his Five and Two Ministries, says fighting alongside the marginalized took a toll.

“It took its toll on him in many ways, physically, psychologically, economically. It did cost him a lot. And now he got killed by the police.”

Shantz experienced serious mental health issues and was nearly blind, according to Draper.

He shares Livingston’s view that Shantz leaves a “complex legacy.”

“Barry contributed significantly to reforms in Canada and how we address drug use policy, contributed significantly to how we address some homeless issues — particularly with camping in the park and being able to do that now overnight in B.C.,” he says. “He’s done some things that weren’t the greatest but he did some things that were really significant, and were beneficial to tens of thousands of Canadians.”

Both Draper and Livingston were shocked to learn Shantz has been shot and killed at his home.

Neither say they had any sense he was in crisis.

Draper spoke to him in mid-December and says Shantz asked him when he was going to come to Lytton for a visit.

“The tragedy to me was we didn’t know he was isolated and we didn’t know the situation he was in,” says Livingston.

The Independent Investigations Office, the province’s police-watchdog, is investigating the Jan. 13 shooting.