Locked in a room and with her baby in her arms, Colombian Vanessa Rentería was shot and heard throughout an entire neighborhood in the city of Surrey, Canada. It was 5:30 a.m. on September 19, 2024. The bullet came from a Canadian police officer’s gun. There was no way to save his life after the impact; the wound was fatal.
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“When they hit her, blood fell on her daughter. It was something atrocious,” described Jaime, Rentería’s father, who has not stopped demanding answers from the authorities. “She was another victim of the conflict in Colombia and now she went to experience it firsthand in Canada,” he lamented in a conversation with EL TIEMPO.
Vanessa Renteria, native of Buenaventura.
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For her father, Vanessa was a supportive, empathetic woman and a believer in God. Born in Buenaventura, she grew up in a large family with 14 siblings. In addition, he worked as a warehouse logistics assistant for more than a decade at the Container Terminal in the port city of Valle del Cauca.
Seeing herself stalked by the violence of criminal gangs in the region, according to her family, she decided to leave Buenaventura and head towards Canada.where he arrived in November 2022 with his partner, the baby in his womb and a few suitcases. There he requested refuge.
The path of the Colombian in Canada
Vanessa Rentería worked at the Buenaventura Container Terminal. He went to Canada to seek refuge.
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After the birth of her daughter in February 2023, she was looking for job opportunities to have stability and rebuild a life with her partner. But, as the months passed, problems arose inside the house.
“The relationship was not going well. She didn’t share with her husband and they were getting into conflicts.. That’s what he told me one of the last times we spoke. And that was what led her to leave the house,” commented Mr. Jaime Rentería.
The Colombian, 37 years old, sought help from organizations. The Battered Women’s Support Services (BWSS) assured that she had asked about the conditions to access subsidized housing and thus become independent with her baby.. She also turned to the Pacific Immigrant Resource Society (PIRS). “She was planning to start English classes at PIRS, eager to integrate and advance in her future,” the entity revealed.
Image of Vanessa Rentería seeking assistance from the Pacific Immigrant Resource Society (PIRS). I had planned to start English classes there.
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He stayed for two months in a temporary shelter. However, in facts that are unclear, he left the site at the end of August and She returned to her little girl’s father’s house, where her brother-in-law was also there.. On September 19, tragedy occurred.
The tragic morning for Vanessa Renteria
As the sun rose that day, Canadian Police patrols surrounded the home in the 6200 block of 180A Street in the Cloverdale neighborhood. At 4:40 am they had received a report from the emergency line of an “altercation” originating in the Colombians’ home.
“Presumably, they say that the one who called the police was Vanessa’s partner. When the Police arrived at the scene, Vanessa had hidden in a bathroom,” said Andrea Díaz, cousin of the woman from Buenos Aires, to EL TIEMPO.
Neighborhood where the Police came to deal with an “altercation.” Vanessa Renteria was locked up with her baby.
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Here more unknowns arise: what had happened in the house to request the presence of the uniformed officers? Why did the woman lock herself in with her daughter in her arms? “The neighbors have claimed that there was a video in which Vanessa said ‘you did it, you did it.’ What had they done to him? “Who was he telling?” Andrea added to the list of questions.
The Police – in the only statement issued in the case – indicated that Rentería was “entrenched” and “reportedly holding a weapon.” His partner and brother-in-law “were safely removed by responding officers,” the authority said.
Around 5:30 a.m., “while interacting with the woman, an officer fired his gun and wounded her. “Officers and Emergency Health Services, who were already outside the residence, immediately provided medical assistance, but the woman died at the scene,” he said in his report.
Did Vanessa know that the uniformed men were behind the door? What did they say to you during the more than forty minutes they were there? Did they understand them, considering that they didn’t know English? And the main question: why did the agent shoot him?
Vanessa Renteria was 37 years old.
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“The Police narrative is that Vanessa was supposedly carrying a weapon, but we emphatically reject those claims and consider them far from reality. She did not have any type of criminal record. Furthermore, it is illogical if he had a baby in his hands. In which hand was he carrying the alleged weapon? Why in their report, that same day, were the Police not able to say what type of weapon he was carrying and how he carried it?” Andrea insisted.
Those close to the Colombian woman describe the police officer’s actions as disproportionate. “There were two adult men, three agents and a woman with a baby in her arms. It wasn’t even that he was ‘Hulk’ to be able to represent a danger at that moment. How is it possible for these two men to be evacuated? And her? The woman who had been in a shelter for abused people because she was not having a good time at home,” said her cousin.
Your partner and brother-in-law can answer several of your questions. But, according to the Rentería family, they have not been given information or details of what happened that fatal early morning.
What has happened to the investigation into the Vanessa Rentería case?
Vanessa Renteria migrated to Canada in November 2022.
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The IIO is committed to ensuring fair and impartial investigations and to being as transparent as possible.
The Police remain silent after the brief report issued. He announced that he will not refer to the case again, as it is now in the hands of the British Columbia Independent Investigations Office (IIO).
When consulted by EL TIEMPO, the IIO clarified that the file remains open and active. It seeks to confirm the circumstances of the event and whether the Police force was necessary, reasonable and proportional.
The investigation will be extended “depending on many factors,” he said, such as “the number of officers involved, the number of witnesses and the need for specialized reports and expert opinions.” There is no estimated publication date for the report.
“The IIO is committed to ensuring fair and impartial investigations and to being as transparent as possible,” he explained to this newspaper.. Once they deliver their conclusions, the Canadian judicial authorities will analyze whether there is any type of crime and whether or not there are grounds to file charges against any official.
For now, the IIO has asked anyone who believes they have videos or relevant information about the event to contact the line 1-855-446-8477 or go to the page iiobc.ca.
The last goodbye to Vanessa Renteria
Rentería’s body arrived in his native Valle del Cauca for the funeral at the beginning of November.. The repatriation was possible thanks to donations and the assistance of the Colombian Foreign Ministry. “I will do justice, I will joyfully return to you what was taken from you and I will multiply what you lost,” read a verse that his relatives wrote on a banner with his image and placed next to the coffin.
Funeral of Vanessa Rentería.
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In the midst of the last goodbye to the Colombian, her family went out to protest on Bulevar del Río in Cali during the last COP16. With several posters and images they wanted to be heard by the people who circulated in the Green Zone of the Biodiversity Summit that took place in the country.
“The countries are gathered together seeking to protect biodiversity. We and Vanessa, as an Afro population, are part of that biodiversity. We come to ask for protection of life, but what if they kill us?” Andrea, cousin, reproached.
Family of Vanessa Rentería protesting at COP16 in Cali that took place at the end of October.
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Angélica, one of Vanessa’s sisters, reiterated the key mystery there: “Why did the police kill her in front of her daughter? “We want the facts to be clarified.”
More than 6,600 kilometers away, in Canada, there is the little girl who witnessed everything and who received her mother’s last caresses before the bullet took her from her. The baby, now 20 months old, was left in the care of her father. Sandra, another of Vanessa’s sisters, traveled to the North American country a few weeks ago to try to reach an agreement with him regarding the custody of the minor and, she said, she will not return to Colombia until her niece is well.
SEBASTIÁN GARCÍA C.
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