Hearing into police action in Myles Gray’s 2015 beating death to begin next week

VANCOUVER — British Columbia’s police watchdog agency says a 10-week public hearing into the death of Myles Gray after a beating by Vancouver officers will begin next week.

Seven officers were cleared of wrongdoing in the August 2015 death, but police complaint commissioner Prabhu Rajan says there is still “meaningful uncertainty as to what happened.”

The hearing will take place at the University of British Columbia’s Robson Square campus in downtown Vancouver.

The commissioner’s office says the hearing will determine whether the seven officers “intentionally or recklessly used unnecessary physical force” in the case, with retired B.C. Supreme Court justice Elizabeth Arnold-Bailey acting as adjudicator.

Gray died at age 33 after the beating, with ruptured testicles, a fractured eye socket, and a broken nose and rib among his injuries at the time of his death.

An external disciplinary process led by Delta police Chief Neil Dubord in October 2024 found the officers did not commit misconduct leading up to Gray’s death.

In 2023, a coroner’s inquest into Gray’s death found he died by homicide, although coroner Larry Marzinzik told the jury that the term is neutral and does not imply fault or blame.

A jury recommended police expedite their use of body-worn cameras for patrol officers as a result of the inquest.

A paramedic at the inquest said Gray’s bruising was so severe that he initially did not appear to be a white man.

Police testified in the inquest that Gray was behaving in an “animalistic” way when officers encountered him after responding to a 911 call about someone spraying a woman with a garden hose.

Police said at the time that Gray did not appear to feel pain as officers struck him with batons and their knees while also punching him in the face and wrestling him to the ground.

Gray’s sister testified that her brother had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder but had been stable since 1999.

The new hearing will also consider if the officers committed neglect of duty by failing to make and preserve contemporaneous notes or to provide their reports or statements in a timely way.

If misconduct is proven, it will be up to Arnold-Bailey to determine the disciplinary or corrective measures and recommend to Vancouver police any changes in policy or practice.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 12, 2026.