Vancouver officer says Gray showed ‘Hulk-like’ strength before fatal arrest

The officer told the hearing Tuesday that he initially thought Gray had used drugs, was having a mental-health concern or possibly a combination of both.

Birzneck said he tried to reassure the man that the “Charlies” weren’t coming but his demeanour changed, and Gray said something to him like “that badge doesn’t mean anything,” and charged at him.

Birzneck said he deployed pepper spray and while it did slow Gray down, it didn’t incapacitate him

“I believed he was going to try and assault me,” Birzneck said.

Recordings played at the hearing included Gray shouting in the background in what the officer described as “a war cry, almost. He’s highly agitated.”

The hearing was told that three officers at the scene tried to get Gray into handcuffs but he fought them.

Gray tried to tackle him at one point, Birzneck said.

“I can’t let him get me to my back …. If he tackled me and got me on my back it would not be good for me,” the officer said.

They wound up under a tree with Birzneck straddling Gray’s hips and trying to control one arm, another officer holding the other arm and a third officer holding his legs.

Gray was growling and spitting and would periodically “power up” finding strength to try and move, he said.

When more officers arrived, Grey continued to be violent, Birzneck said.

“He never attempted to comply. He didn’t try to run from us. He always engaged us.”

A police disciplinary process previously determined none of the officers committed misconduct, and no charges have been laid over Gray’s death, which a 2023 coroner’s inquest ruled was a homicide, a term that does not assign legal blame.

The inquest heard that Gray was left with injuries that included a fractured eye socket, a crushed voice box and ruptured testicles, while a paramedic told the inquest that Gray’s bruising was so severe, he initially thought he was not a white man.

Recordings of police radio traffic in the lead-up to Gray’s death were played Tuesday.

The audio includes officers being told that someone had complained about a person spraying their mother with water and an officer later reporting that the person was “acting a little aggressive,” and asking for “hurry-up cover,” meaning other officers should arrive quickly.

Birzneck is the first of the respondent officers to testify at the hearing, which opened in January but has experienced a series of delays.

At least three of the other officers involved in Gray’s deadly arrest are scheduled to testify: constables Beau Spencer, Nick Thompson and Josh Wong.

Birzneck spent much of his early testimony on Tuesday discussing his use-of force training and experience.

He said he had never used his baton or pepper spray on another person before the altercation with Gray on Aug. 13, 2015, noting that he hit Gray two or three times on the leg with his baton.

Birzneck said he received training in the use of a baton, the use of the spray, and “vascular neck restraint” and he had previously been a use-of-force instructor when employed by the Canada Border Services Agency.

He told the hearing that he tried twice to put Gray in the restraint and that while the first attempt didn’t have an impact, Gray responded to the second attempt by reaching up, but didn’t lose consciousness.

He did not cut off Gary’s air supply and didn’t feel like he was restricting Gray’s ability to breathe, he said.

Birzneck testified that trained officers know how to do the restraint with proper alignment and can tell if the restraint is cutting off oxygen if the person is coughing.

He said he believed he could safely apply the restraint if required.

Other attempts to get the situation under control had not worked.

“We need to end this immediately,” he said. “We need to get him into custody.”

Birzneck said he released Gray from the hold after he had been handcuffed, gathered his gear and left the area.

He said he later returned and saw an officer performing CPR on Gray.

Outside the hearing, Ian Donaldson, a lawyer representing Gray’s mother said she hopes lessons can be learned from her son’s death so that something similar doesn’t happen again.

“That’s all that really a family could hope for, because you can’t bring your son back no matter what you do,” he said.

Donaldson said multiple people will provide opinions on the use of force and it will be up to the adjudicator to make decisions about the facts of what happened.

Birzneck’s lawyer Greg Cavouras started the day by telling adjudicator Elizabeth Arnold-Bailey that it was Gray who drove the outcome of the altercation and that his client tried to defuse a dangerous situation and only used force he reasonably thought necessary.

He said Gray’s “cardiac event” occurred approximately 15 minutes after Birzneck’s last contact with the man.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 13, 2026.

Ashley Joannou, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Vancouver officer says Gray showed ‘Hulk-like’ strength before fatal arrest

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