Vancouver officer describes ‘unnerving’ call for help at Myles Gray hearing

VANCOUVER — Const. Beau Spencer told a public hearing that a colleague’s call for help after encountering Myles Gray was “unnerving.” Spencer said he knew Const. Hardeep Sahota, and her tone over the radio immediately raised concern. As Spencer and his partner headed to the scene, he later heard an “animalistic roar” unlike anything he had heard on police radio.

On his second day of testimony, Spencer said he and his partner were “quite anxious” to reach the scene because radio calls from there “continued to escalate.” Another call came in when three officers were already there. Spencer said it did not sound as though the person they were dealing with was “under control,” which he found “very concerning.”

The hearing, launched by B.C.’s Police Complaint Commissioner, is examining whether seven Vancouver officers committed misconduct during their confrontation with Gray. No charges have been laid over his death. A 2023 coroner’s inquest ruled it a homicide, a finding that does not assign legal blame.

The commissioner’s notice said an earlier disciplinary process had dismissed misconduct allegations. The discipline authority found that process “strangely lopsided” and had to decide the case despite “discrepancies and inconsistencies in statements made by Vancouver Police Department members.”

The earlier inquest heard that Gray suffered injuries including a fractured eye socket, a crushed voice box and ruptured testicles. A paramedic said the bruising was so severe that he initially thought Gray was not a white man.

The Canadian Press first published this report on Oct. 16, 2026.