A key player in the police takedown of a man who had taken over a trapper's cabin south of Valemount called the attempt a "failed operation," when testifying at a coroner's inquest Monday, because it ended in the subject's death rather than a peaceful arrest.
The inquest is being held into the Sept. 17, 2014 shooting death of John Robert Buehler, 51. Daughter Shanna Buehler was also shot but survived. A seven-person jury has been appointed to make recommendations to help prevent similar deaths in the future.
"It absolutely failed," Staff Sgt. Dan Holt said. "We went in there to affect their arrest and we failed in our objectives. And as a police officer, I'm going to tell you straight out that I made those decisions and I am accountable for those decisions and I consider that the young men who were in my charge at that time conducted themselves with the utmost professionalism.
"So if you want responsibility, it's on these shoulders."
Holt made the comments after providing his account of what transpired in the days and hours leading up to Buehler's death. A member of the B.C. Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, and someone with a background in the military, Holt had been called in to help the North District RCMP's emergency response team with the apprehension.
Buehler has been variously described as a violent, angry and paranoid man who came to believe the day was looming when all evil would be wiped off the earth and had begun preparing for that time by stockpiling food and equipment, including firearms and ammunition at the cabin.
About three months before, Buehler and his daughter had parked their camper at a recreation area just outside Valemount, a community of slightly more than 1,000 people 285 kilometres east of Prince George.
Police had been called in after he allegedly unleashed his German shepherd dogs on a pair of horse riders and, following a four-hour standoff, he was taken into custody while some guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were seized.
Buehler was later release on a recognizance and was supposed to appear in court on Sept. 7, 2014. But he was a no show and three days later, a Valemount man found Buehler had taken over his cabin, located in an isolated area on the shore of Kinbasket Lake, and had refused to leave.
Holt arrived on the scene on Sept. 14, 2014. He found a bridge along the forest service road leading to the cabin had been burnt out. That combined with what he knew of Buehler and of the terrain around the cabin, left him worried that Buehler was readying for a showdown.
Holt said it also made him concerned for the public, particularly because hunting season had started. He noted that because the bridge had been destroyed, a hunting party had been temporarily stranded on the other side of the creek it had crossed. While they and their dogs were evacuated with the help of police, their vehicles remained stuck behind.
"I must say that both men were clearly shaken by what they had experienced," Holt said.
On the afternoon of Sept. 17, 2014, Holt and six ERT members made their way towards the cabin. It took them two hours to cover about a kilometre as they picked their way through a morass of blown-down trees and thick brush. They got within a bit more than 200 metres of the cabin and had set up camp when, at about 7 p.m. and with the day having given away to night, they heard the dogs barking and the sound of all-terrain vehicles being driven away.
Police had wanted to apprehend the Buehlers while they were outside the cabin and unable to barricade themselves.
"So I saw the opportunity," Holt said. In consultation with the incident commander stationed at a post outside the immediate area, it was decided that the members move forward and "I believe the term that was used was 'seize the day.'"
Armed with bean bag guns and distraction devices, three of the ERT positioned themselves in the bush alongside a laneway leading towards the cabin. Holt and two others, meanwhile, went to the cabin itself where they came across five of the dogs tethered to the deck and one running loose.
"They were all going crazy," Holt said and added they would not let him onto the cabin deck. The three police subsequently stationed themselves at a tarped area next to the cabin when they were told via radio that the Buehlers had returned and, with their long guns out, were checking the bush alongside the laneway.
Holt said he saw the flashes and heard the bangs and pops of distraction devices and bean bag guns going off. But that failed to stop Buehler who continued to ride his ATV along the path and towards Holt and the two other police.
"He is crouched in the footrest, sort of half standing, and he is unslinging a rifle," Holt said.
Holt fired off a distraction device, which fired off two bangs and a flash.
But Buehler kept going and leveled his rifle at Holt and the others. Fearing for his life, Holt fired off a round that hit Buehler but did not kill him. A second shot from a partner sent Buehler down but he was still moving and took aim from the ground. That was when the third officer opened fire.
Buehler was hit six times with two of the bullets piercing his heart, the inquest has heard.
Following on his comment that it was a failed operation, both inquest counsel Chris Godwin and RCMP counsel Andrew Kemp asked Holt if there was anything he would have done differently. Holt did not give any specifics but expressed a measure of regret for the outcome.
"At the time and under the circumstances that were in front of me and what I had, I did what I considered appropriate and that I will have to live with for the rest of my life," Holt said.
