Family members have identified Don Bennett (66) as the man believed to have died in a fire inside a barn during an RCMP “wellness check” at a blueberry farm in Langley on November 10, 2023. It is reported that there was an hours-long standoff beginning when RCMP were called for a wellness check on an “individual who was distraught and made concerning comments.” RCMP arrived at a farm on the 23000-block of 0 Avenue, on the Canada-U.S. border, at around 4 PM. Police claim they heard gunshots and, in response, called the force’s integrated emergency response team. Police claim that at around 10:40 PM a fire broke out that consumed the barn, leaving the person inside likely dead.
Bennett’s daughter, Nicky McIntosh, has come forward to question the RCMP handling of the encounter and to ask whether RCMP did enough to defuse the situation. McIntosh told media that an armed response to a mental health crisis was not justified. She also wished the RCMP had involved Bennett’s family early on. In her words: “I don’t know if there was a mental health worker or a social worker or a support worker in attendance with the officers who came to do the initial wellness check. But the family wasn’t involved from the beginning. And by the time we did find out about it, I think it had already escalated to a point where I don’t know if there was any way to go back.”
McIntosh said she was only notified of the standoff a bit before RCMP said the barn burned down. She is asking why the family was not contacted earlier: “He has so many friends and family members that could have easily been contacted, even just to touch base with him. And then who was on the scene with the police officers? Because when somebody is in mental distress, having a badge and a gun isn’t necessarily the answer.”
Incredibly, police called in dog handlers to remove dogs that were on scene and allegedly impairing police movements. The dog handlers claim a shot was fired near them. Yet, while it has not been determined that counselors were dispatched for Mr. Bennett, it has been reported that a counselor was called to the scene—for the dog handlers. Sarah Jones, executive director of the Aldergrove-based Langley Animal Protection Society told media, “She was called that evening and had a session with each of them in the night to make sure that they were okay. They’re getting the mental health and emotional support they need, and they’re doing remarkably well, but I think this [is] something that [can] show up later.”
Bennett had reportedly rented space on the property to park his RV for around a decade. He had been living in the RV inside the barn.
The owners of the blueberry farm have also come forward to say how the police operation traumatized them, leaving them in shock even two days later. The Brar family says that police tactical officers arrived at their door and told them to hide in their farmhouse with the lights off as dozens of officers “swarmed” the property.
According to Sandeep Brar, “The SWAT team…they were running around all the house. We were totally shocked. There’s lots of RCMP police cars, fire trucks, and then ambulances … I was totally shocked and I keep crying—what’s going on here? We never had any kind of a problem.”
Brar said her nine-year-old daughter and two elderly parents were in the house at the time, while she and her husband got stopped at a police barricade while trying to return home after running some errands elsewhere. Brar told media, “My daughter was crying and my parents didn’t know what to do.” Ranvir Brar, a 14-year-old daughter, told media of the fear inside the house. In her words, “My little sister was in the house and my grandparents … [It] was pretty scary for them.”
McIntosh described her father as easygoing and kind man, who was close to her two daughters. In her words, “Everyone he met—strangers on the ferry, on the trail, Campbell Valley Park where he rode his horses—he would make friends everywhere.”
She said that anyone close to Bennett knew he struggled with mental health issues, and that he was in a crisis on that day. Recognizing that many people have died during so-called wellness checks in Canada, McIntosh said, “If they don’t change the way they deal with it, it won’t be the last time either.”
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