Ian Jacques/Editor
Kenn Perrier, bolstered by the love and support of family and friends, is slowly recovering from the shock and trauma of last Tuesday's shooting at Good Samaritan Christenson Village in Gibsons.
Perrier, the facilities manager, was allegedly shot twice by 40-year-old Linda Lorraine Howe when he and three others went to her room just before 4 p.m. on March 30 to begin to move Howe to another facility.
Last Thursday (April 2), the Perrier family held a media briefing at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH). Family spokesperson Jeff Lee said the family is understandably shocked and traumatized by this incident.
"His wife, mother and sisters have gathered in Vancouver to be by his side and to assist him in whatever way they can, as he recovers," said Lee. "It is too early to tell what the outcome will be for him."
On Monday, Vancouver Coastal Health's (VCH) senior media relations officer Anna Marie D'Angelo said Perrier's condition was upgraded to satisfactory condition.
"Kenn is a loving husband and father to three children and they are all devastated by the violence that has been brought upon him and his family," said Lee. "Kenn is best described as a gentle man, devoted to his family and loyal to his friends and employer."
Lee said Kenn and his family would like to thank the community for their ongoing support, in particular the RCMP, the Good Samaritan Society, VCH and VGH medical staff for all their hard work.
Besides Perrier, another local man has been impacted by last Tuesday's incident.
Spencer Williams, 20 from Gibsons, a salesman for Health Tech, a Coquitlam-based company, had just finished a sales call at Christenson Village and was preparing to drive away from the facility when Howe came out of the building and headed straight toward his vehicle.
"As I pulled out of the parking space, and I drove ahead 14 feet towards the exit, a lady came running out from my left hand side with a rifle," said Williams. "She pointed it at me through the car window and started yelling for me to get out of my car. So I got out of my car and took the keys with me. She came up closer to me, probably three or four feet away, and told me to give her the keys, so I handed her the keys and started backing away and ducked down behind some cars."
Williams said once he started backing away from the car, he could see police officers coming to the scene.
"I didn't even know what to think - it's kind of the last thing you would ever expect," he said. "At first I thought it kind of looked like a toy gun. Then as she started getting closer I realized it was not a toy gun - it was real. It kind of hit me the next day what had happened."
Williams said Howe was pretty agitated and on edge when she initially made contact with him.
"She got into the car and pulled ahead about 40 feet. She tried to drive away, but the door was open and then she was trying to reach back and pick up some stuff off of her wheel chair," he said. "She got out and started loading stuff up and that's when the police ordered her to drop the weapon and get out of the car."
Williams's car, a '93, white Mustang is being worked on in a body shop in Sechelt. Several bullet holes are being patched up and blood splatters are being removed from the interior of the vehicle, he said.
While Perrier continues his recovery in VGH, Howe was in the process of being released from hospital this week. She will be detained at the pre-trial centre in Surrey.
Howe was slated to appear in North Vancouver provincial court last Friday, to face 10 charges, including three counts for attempted murder, but the case was adjourned to Sechelt provincial court on Tuesday. According to Crown counsel Trevor Cockfield, Tuesday's appearance was brief, with Howe's lawyer representing her in court. The case was adjourned until April 15 in Sechelt where Cockfield said Howe would appear by video link and a date for her bail hearing will likely be set.
Court documents filed by Crown indicate Howe was in possession of a .303-calibre rifle and a 7.65 milimetre handgun, which is classed as a prohibited weapon. Howe faces charges of possession of a weapon without a licence and possession of a prohibited weapon in relation to the guns. RCMP say they're continuing their investigation including efforts to try to confirm the details of Howe's military record.
Last week several reports from friends said Howe claimed to be a Gulf War veteran and was suffering from mental health issues associated with the war, but as of yet, neither police nor Canadian military officials have been able to confirm her service record. Howe was also recovering from injuries, including an apparent brain injury, suffered when she was involved in a traffic accident in Elphinstone in December 2005.
Cpl. Peter Thiessen with RCMP media communications said the investigations into the incident are continuing.
Thiessen said police executed a search warrant April 1 and gained access to Howe's suite at Christenson Village.
"The search of the residence was completed at approximately 2 a.m. and resulted in further evidence seized and secured," said Thiessen. "The nature of that evidence will not be discussed. It is, however, pertinent to the investigation at hand. As part of any criminal investigation such as this, investigators are making enquiries and gathering information in order to develop a profile of the accused. This process concerns historical background information and includes.
"These investigative enquiries are prioritized and sometimes take days to document and confirm. At this time, the RCMP are unable to confirm any connection to any organizations [military] as reported to the community by the media."
Besides the police investigations, both Good Samaritan and VCH are starting two parallel investigations next week.
According to Kathy Daly, director of operations for Good Samaritan Coastal Region, the investigations are standard for any type of critical incident such as the one that occurred March 31.
"I can't speak for VCH, but we will be holding our initial meeting next Tuesday (April 14) and I'll have a better idea what the investigations will entail as well as a timeline for completion," Daly said. "Certainly this is not something we want to stretch out. We want the investigations to be as in-depth as possible, but to be done as quickly as possible."
As for the staff and residents, Daly said everyone has been coping with the tragedy as well as could be expected.
"We have very resilient residents. They've had lots of support and are doing very well," Daly said. "I can't say enough good things about the staff. They've pulled together and have been there to support their colleagues and the residents."
