Skip to content

Mother identified as victim killed in Surrey hostage-taking

GoFundMe campaign ID’s Surrey woman as Nona McEwan
16215137_web1_190401-SNW-M-Nona-McEwen-Facebook-image
Nona McEwen. (Facebook image)

A GoFundMe campaign with a goal of raising $15,000 for the three orphaned children of Nona McEwan — whom the campaign identifies as the woman killed during the 10-hour hostage taking in Surrey last week – has been set up to cover funeral and counselling expenses.

A man was pronounced dead at the scene Friday (March 29) and a woman died at hospital after the standoff between the man and police ended in gunfire Friday morning.

GoFundMe is a crowdfunding platform set up to raise money for people in need. The particular page – gofundme.com/f/tragic-loss-of-beloved-parents – describes McEwan as a “loving, sweet and kind hearted woman who would give the shirt off her back for you.”

The GoFundMe page also identifies her “long time on-again-off-again partner” as Randy Crosson.

As of Monday morning, the campaign had raised $3,045.

“Nona was a friend. I’ve known her most of my life,” wrote Laura Herbert. “We went to school together. I’m still trying to understand. Still in shock. My heart hurts for her kids, family and loved ones. Fly high my friend…till we meet again.”

Maria Muller wrote “Nona was a beautiful soul!”

And Cathy Finley had this to share: “Nona was a great woman who touched our lives. I’m so saddened to hear of this ordeal. Nona was honest, kind and tenacious and deserved better in life. My thoughts go out to all her family.”

Surrey RCMP and IIO have not released the names of the deceased.

Nona McEwan. (Photo: gofundme.com)

The Independent Investigations Office (IIO) is investigating what role police played in this tragedy, which saw roughly two dozen police vehicles, as well as an armoured vehicle, surrounded a home at a cul-de-sac near 132A Street and 100A Avenue.

The Surrey-based IIO was set up in September 2012 with the aim of keeping B.C. police officers accountable in incidents involving deaths and serious injuries.

Surrey RCMP Sergeant Chad Greig declined Monday to confirm the names of the deceased. “You’ll have to contact the IIO B.C. on that, they’re the lead investigators on this investigation now,” he said. But Nicola Collins, media and communications liaison for the IIO, also declined to confirm the names. “We don’t feel like there’s anything that can be improved by us giving the names of people,” she told the Now-Leader on Monday. “We will be releasing information about the investigation but names aren’t something that the IIO does normally release unless there’s a need for public safety or anything like that.”

READ ALSO ZYTARUK: Keeping homicide victims’ names from public a disturbing trend

Ron MacDonald, chief civilian director of the IIO, said investigators aren’t sure if the woman was killed by shots.

“We’re still trying to determine what caused her injuries and what led to her death,” he said last Friday. “We do know that police took shots but we don’t know if they’re the ones that caused injuries to the male and we’re still trying to determine that. It’s still very early in this investigation.”



tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com

Like us on Facebook Follow us on Instagram and follow Tom on Twitter



About the Author: Tom Zytaruk

I write unvarnished opinion columns and unbiased news reports for the Surrey Now-Leader.
Read more