Vigil Remembers Son, Brother, Friend

Klim allegedly threatened officers, who forced their way into the apartment after Klim didn’t answer his phone, with a knife. He was shot after Klim refused the police’s verbal commands to drop the knife, and after a Taser deployed had little effect. Klim died in hospital from the gunshot wounds. Clarence Klim, Chris’s father, wrote a poignant letter that was read by Shelley Shikaze at the end of the vigil, after candles were lit in Chris’s memory. “My son did not harm or hurt anybody but himself, yet on that fateful day, he was shot and killed because he was alleged to be endangering himself and no one else,” wrote Clarence. “It is so, so hard to imagine the fear in Chris when they came through his door. “I feel if they had provided a caseworker or a qualified person there to talk to him, the outcome would have been different and we would not have lost a son, brother and friend.” The Klims say the community and province must stand together and fight, so this tragedy never happens again. “The RCMP, mental health and politicians need to stand up and be accountable for the action that was taken, instead of ignoring the problems and continually making cutbacks to a system which needs to be amended and improved,” wrote Clarence. “I do blame the system for taking the life of my son.” The vigil was organized by local citizen Alixe Miller, who said on Thursday she was glad to have put the evening together. ... http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_similkameen/vernonmorningstar/news/Vigil_remembers_son_brother_friend_.html

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