Surrey mom shot dead by police was ‘kind, caring’: advocacy group

A local anti-violence organization is condemning the police actions that led to a young Afro-Latina mother’s death in Cloverdale earlier this week.
Surrey RCMP received a call about a “disturbance” at a residence in the 6200 block of 180A Street at about 4:40 a.m. on Sept.19, police say.
Staff Sgt. Kris Clark, a BC RCMP media relations officer, noted in a previous release, that when police arrived they learned that a woman had locked herself in a room with a toddler and was holding a weapon near the child. “At approximately 5:30 a.m., while interacting with the woman, an officer fired their weapon striking her. Officers and Emergency Health Services, who were already outside of the residence, immediately provided medical assistance, but the woman died at the scene,” Clark said.
The 37-year-old woman has been identified by the SNTT de Colombia, a Colombian labour union, as Vanessa Renteria Valencia. The union, on social media, is calling for an investigation into her death and sending condolences to her loved ones. Renteria was a union member and activist when she worked at the port of Buenaventura in Colombia.
Sandra Renteria, Vanessa’s sister, penned a letter to the Colombian government and the Colombian Consulate in Vancouver for assistance in obtaining a visa for family members to travel to Canada and in repatriating Renteria’s body back to Colombia. The family is also calling for an “impartial and fair investigation.” “We have also received information indicating that Vanesa was seeking support to find a stable place to live alone with her daughter,” reads the letter. The letter notes that Renteria Valencia sought asylum in Canada in 2022 as she was fleeing the violence in Buenaventura.
“Vanessa, fleeing violence and with the desire to give her daughter a better future, ended up shot in front of her. This is a clear example of a new generation that suffers the physical and structural violence of a racist, classist and misogynistic global system,” the letter reads.
Source:surreynowleader.com