Stratford shooting to be investigated

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A spokesman for the coroner’s office said the fatal shooting in Stratford does not meet the criteria for a mandatory investigation, but the quadruple shooting could still be the subject of an in-depth public inquiry.

Stratford police said Ricky Bilcke, 31, shot and killed Johnny Bennett, 36, and seriously injured Stephanie Irvine, 37, and David Tokley, 43, on Aug. 1 before turning the gun on himself.

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Investigators determined the violence was the result of an “ongoing neighborhood dispute” and that Bierke was armed with a shotgun, a high-powered rifle and a handgun during the attack.

The murder-suicide, Stratford’s first homicide in nearly two decades, shocked the community and left many asking how a city known for its annual theater festival and thriving culinary industry could have become the site of unprecedented gun violence.

But because Bierke is dead and no criminal charges have been filed in the case, the only way to conduct a public investigation into the fatal incident is a coroner’s inquest, a formal hearing in which a jury will present the facts and potentially make non-binding recommendations to prevent similar deaths.

Mandatory inquests are conducted when someone dies under certain specific circumstances, including in certain workplace deaths, deaths in police custody or during interactions with police, deaths while under physical restraint in a hospital or psychiatric facility, and in certain child deaths.

Stephanie Rea, a spokeswoman for the chief medical examiner’s office, said the Stratford shooting did not meet the criteria for a mandatory investigation.

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“However, all cases may be considered for an inquest if it is in the public interest to fully understand the circumstances of the death through an inquest and if there is a possibility that an inquest jury could make useful recommendations to avoid further deaths in similar circumstances,” Ray wrote in an email.

Rea said after the regional coroner reviews the death findings, the chief coroner will decide whether to conduct a discretionary inquest into the case.

In deciding whether to hold a discretionary inquest, there are two criteria to consider: Is it in the public interest to fully understand the circumstances of the death? And what is the likelihood that a jury will make useful recommendations that will prevent similar deaths from happening again?

Aaron Hardman’s brother, David Tokley, heard the gunfire and rushed to help, and was shot in the head. Hardman said holding an inquest would “help better protect the community” and get to the bottom of what led to the shooting.

“I think it’s going to help David,” Hardman said of his brother, who was released from the hospital last week.

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In a previous interview at Victoria Hospital, Stephanie Irwin described how Bierke first shot Bennett, her boyfriend of more than three years, with a rifle while she held her two-year-old daughter, then shot her in the right arm with a shotgun, nearly breaking the limb.

She said Irving fled back home and Bierke fired more shots into the house.

Irving said she and Bennett had been at odds with neighbors Chris DeVore and Connie Smart, who live across the street from Bierke’s home, but they had little contact with the gunman since Bierke moved to the neighborhood this spring.

Neither DeVore nor Smart responded to interview requests.

Inspector Mark Taylor said Stratford police have been called to Bradshaw Avenue 11 times since the summer, mostly for noise complaints and conflicts over neighbors, noting that Bierke has licenses for all of his guns and has no prior criminal record.

Little is known about Bierke, and his mother did not respond to requests for comment. His father, Rick Sr., died in 2004.

Philomena Hamberg, a real estate manager in Stratford, said she rented a home to Bielke before he moved to Bradshaw Drive in April, and that Bielke’s sister, Thora, still rents the home to him.

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“I saw him all the time. He was always here to help her. If she had to work, he’d take care of her cats,” Hamberg said. “He was a super nice guy, and everyone who knew him would say that.”

Tora Bielke declined an interview request, citing the ongoing police investigation, but she wrote about her brother’s death on a memorial page she created for her father on Facebook.

“Hey Dad. I know it’s been a while and I’m sure you welcomed him with open arms, but we lost Ricky 11 days ago, on August 1st. Promise me you’ll take good care of him, ok? And please give him some love and hugs from everyone here who misses him and loves him,” she wrote in the August 12 post.

“You must be so proud of him, who he’s become, and what he’s accomplished. I guess I just have to try to take some solace in the fact that you’re together again and aren’t miserable anymore. No matter how angry I am about you leaving me the way you did, I’m going to spend the rest of my life loving both of you.”

dcarruthers@postmedia.com

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