Several patterns have emerged after the last few Vancouver police witnesses testified at a coronerB次元官网网址檚 inquest into the death of Myles Gray in August 2015.

The 14 officers who have testified so far have used the same language to describe GrayB次元官网网址檚 behaviour as police struggled to restrain him, and many told the inquest they were so focused on their own actions, they donB次元官网网址檛 have clear and complete recollections of what others were doing to restrain the 33-year-old.

Gray died shortly after a beating by several officers that left him with injuries including a fractured eye socket, a crushed voice box and ruptured testicles.

At least five officers testified they followed a direction from their police union not to make handwritten notes in the hours after GrayB次元官网网址檚 death.

All of them told the inquest they couldnB次元官网网址檛 recall who the unionB次元官网网址檚 directive came from, although Det. Const. Nick Thompson testified last week that it was passed to him by a superior officer while he was still at the scene where Gray died.

Const. Tiffany Tan testified on Monday that she has been in numerous B次元官网网址渄ynamic, abnormalB次元官网网址� situations working as an officer in the years since GrayB次元官网网址檚 death, and she has never been told not to make handwritten notes at any other time.

Const. Joshua Wong testified last week that a senior officer acting as a union representative told him not to make notes, a request he thought was B次元官网网址渧ery odd.B次元官网网址�

Const. Derek Cain and Det. Const. Beau Spencer also told the inquest that a police union representative told each of the officers not to make handwritten notes.

Const. Chris Bowater testified he did make handwritten notes at the time. He said he was assigned the responsibility of writing as much of a report as he could, and he stayed at the scene for about two hours after GrayB次元官网网址檚 death.

Several of the officers said they didnB次元官网网址檛 speak with each other about the particulars of the struggle with Gray in the hours after his death, while two others told the inquest there was some kind of peer-support discussion that evening.

Asked whether he debriefed with any of the other officers involved, Spencer testified Friday that he was B次元官网网址渧ery familiar that weB次元官网网址檙e not able to speak about specific circumstances, and each individualB次元官网网址檚 recollection of the event.B次元官网网址�

When the officers arrived at police headquarters, B次元官网网址渢here was actually very little talking, if any, about what each person had done,B次元官网网址� Spencer told the inquest.

A lawyer for GrayB次元官网网址檚 family, Ian Donaldson, also asked Wong last week whether he had spoken to any of the officers present that day by the time he uploaded his statement to the police database some time in early 2016.

Not in relation to the events that day, Wong said.

However, Const. John Gravengard testified Monday that he and other officers he remembers seeing at the scene of GrayB次元官网网址檚 death had talked about what they experienced and how they felt as they gathered at police headquarters.

Although most of the officers testified that they didnB次元官网网址檛 speak to each other much, if at all, several of them have used the same terms to describe GrayB次元官网网址檚 behaviour.

They said he displayed B次元官网网址渟uperhumanB次元官网网址� strength and appeared to be in an B次元官网网址渁nimalisticB次元官网网址� state, sweating heavily and growling or yelling in an unintelligible way.

Spencer said Gray began to B次元官网网址渂uckB次元官网网址� the officer off him B次元官网网址渓ike at a rodeo with a horse.B次元官网网址�

Wong also told the inquest Gray was bucking like a horse as several officers struggled to pin him to the ground and handcuff him.

Two officers, Wong and Cain, also described GrayB次元官网网址檚 strength, saying he tossed them like a B次元官网网址渄oll,B次元官网网址� despite the fact he wasnB次元官网网址檛 standing up at the time.

By the time Gray was handcuffed, most officers told the inquest they didnB次元官网网址檛 notice any signs of injury besides redness in his face and possible body bruising.

However, Spencer testified that GrayB次元官网网址檚 face had become progressively more swollen throughout the struggle, particularly around his orbital bones.

Gray had been in Vancouver making a delivery to a floristsB次元官网网址� supply shop as part of his business on the Sunshine Coast. The initial 911 call was about an agitated man who sprayed a woman with a garden hose, the inquest has heard.

Cain, a former paramedic who said he performed first aid on Gray, testified on Friday that GrayB次元官网网址檚 symptoms suggested he was experiencing a condition called B次元官网网址渆xcited delirium,B次元官网网址� describing it as a life-threatening medical emergency.

Several other officers, including Spencer, Thompson, and Const. Kory Folkestad, testified using that same term to describe GrayB次元官网网址檚 behaviour.

Earlier in the inquest in Burnaby, B.C., Coroner Larry Marzinzik provided the jury with what he called a B次元官网网址渃autionary noteB次元官网网址� about the term excited delirium.

To his knowledge, Marzinzik said itB次元官网网址檚 not recognized as a cause of death by most pathologists. The jury members should put less weight on the evidence of a lay person on the topic and would be hearing from a medical expert later, he said.

Personnel from the Burnaby fire department, BC Emergency Health Services, the Independent Investigations Office and others are set to testify later this week.

The jury wonB次元官网网址檛 be able to make findings of legal responsibility at the inquest but may make recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future.

B次元官网网址擝renna Owen, The Canadian Press

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