Parents of suspect in Kamloops standoff say system failed their son

The parents of a Kamloops man facing four charges of attempted murder after allegedly opening fire on police Friday say the incident could have concluded much quicker than it did.

Shane Caron was taken into custody early Saturday morning at the conclusion of a 17-hour standoff with police. He is facing 12 charges stemming from the incident, before which he is alleged to have fired at Mounties on four separate occasions.

The 35-year-old’s parents, Bill McGinn and Kathy Caron, live in the G&M Trailer Park with their son. They argue the incident did not have to turn into the protracted ordeal it became.

“I could have talked him out of that f—ing house in five minutes and I told the cops that,” McGinn told KTW. “They said, ‘Nope. We can’t put you in harm’s way.’”

McGinn said he does not deny the allegations his son is facing. He said his son was distraught during the standoff. The two spoke on the phone on multiple occasions during the standoff before police cut the line in the mid-afternoon, McGinn said.

“We were in contact while this standoff was going on and then they just cut him off,” McGinn said.

“He was crying. He was f—ing scared. I told the cops, ‘That’s my kid and we have a serious situation. We could end it right now.’ He was so f—ing scared, he was bawling steady.”

McGinn also took issue with police stating his son fired his rifle inside the home.

“That’s what they used for the search warrant to get in the house, that he was shooting in the house,” he said.

“There’s not one bullet hole. I asked the officer where the bullet hole was. He said he couldn’t find one.”

Kathy Caron said the whole incident could have been avoided. She said her son was committed under the Mental Health Act in July and police seized his guns.

“They must have missed one,” she said, referring to the weapon allegedly used on Friday. “They were supposed to come in and take all his guns.”

Caron believes it’s a failure of the systems in place to keep people and the community safe when dealing with mental illness.

“They should have done something,” she said, describing her son as “paranoid” in recent months while dealing with domestic issues with his ex-girlfriend.

Caron also admitted her son was a frequent user of cocaine and said he feared a group of people he claimed was trying to kill him.

“[They have] been threatening to cut him into pieces,” she said. “Is that normal? Of course he’s going crazy. He needs help. He’s hopefully going to get it now because he’s had psychiatric issues for some time.”

Caron said she hopes her son is given the opportunity to get his life back on track.

“Before the last year or so, he was fine,” she said. “I was proud of him. I really believe it was the drugs that did it.”

Caron was already facing a number of domestic assault-related charges, which are also before the courts, stemming from an incident earlier this month.

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