Slain Burnaby RCMP Officer Was Trying to Revive Suspect Before She Was Stabbed: Report

Slain Burnaby RCMP Officer Was Trying to Revive Suspect Before She Was Stabbed: Report
A officer with the Vancouver Police Department is seen near a homeless encampment where a female member of the RCMP was stabbed to death in Burnaby, B.C., Oct. 18, 2022. The Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward
David Wagner
Updated:

A B.C. RCMP officer who was fatally stabbed at a homeless camp in Burnaby was trying to administer Naloxone to the suspect to revive him after a possible drug overdose, according to a leaked police report.

The police report came from an unidentified source who shared it with Global News’ investigative journalist Sam Cooper. Cooper posted excerpts of the document on Twitter.

The report said that on Oct. 18, at around 11 a.m., Cst. Shaelyn Yang of the Burnaby RCMP’s mental health and homeless outreach team, accompanied by a city parks officer, were about to serve an eviction notice to a male occupying a tent in a Burnaby park for several months.

Yang approached the tent and observed a man “with eyes closed and unresponsive” and “feared he was experiencing an overdose,” the report said.

Yang announced that she was going into the tent to administer Naloxone, at which point the man responded and got out of the tent before threatening the parks officer. Yang and the officer backed off and called for assistance.

The male then allegedly charged Yang and stabbed her in the chest area with a knife.

A scuffle ensued, two shots were heard, and another parks officer and bystander came to help restrain the suspect, who said he'd been shot. Yang was holding the suspect’s legs, and the parks officer was also trying to control the suspect before the two shots were fired. The report mentions that Yang then “lost consciousness.”

“Yang died bravely; she answered the call to duty and paid the ultimate price,” RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald said in an Oct. 18 press release.
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. will be reviewing the incident.

Suspect Had Prior Charges

The alleged suspect in the case is 37-year-old Jongwon Ham, who was charged with first-degree murder following his arrest on Oct. 18.

Court records show that Ham was wanted by police on separate assaults, and a warrant for his arrest was issued on Oct. 17, a day before the incident with Yang, according to the Canadian Press.

In February 2021, Ham was charged with assault and resisting a police officer. In March 2022, Ham was again charged for allegedly assaulting a security guard at the food court in Vancouver’s Harbour Centre.

Ham’s LinkedIn page shows that he was previously an accomplished director, cinematographer, and editor.
According to Global News, Ham’s mental health went into decline after he was charged with sexual assault in Toronto in 2014. The charge was withdrawn three years later in 2017.