Calli Vanderaa's dad demands answers after she was shot with stolen RCMP gun
The father of the 16-year-girl who was shot Friday night with a gun stolen from an off-duty RCMP officer's vehicle is demanding answers.
"I want an answer. I want the policy changed immediately," said Corey Vanderaa, while taking a short break from Calli's bedside Thursday in hospital. "I don't care what I got to do. I want the policy changed. If you have a weapon in a car, it should be secured."
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Vanderaa's nightmare started late Friday night.
He had called his daughter, who was spending the night at a friend's, and told her he loved her.
Forty-five minutes later the phone woke him up.
"I got a phone call from the Winnipeg Police that she was shot in the chest and she was in critical condition and being rushed to HSC," said the single dad.
Vanderra jumped in his car and drove to the hospital, thinking it must be a mistake.
"When I got here, I knew it was her, and reality started to kick in. I spent the first nine hours she was in surgery by myself waiting just to hear. That was pretty brutal. That nine hours felt like nine days, waiting to see," he said.
Calli had gone to a MAC's convenience store late Friday night to get a drink with some friends.
Two men, who are now suspects in the theft of the gun from the officer's vehicle, got into an argument with the group of young people.
One of them is now charged with shooting at the car Calli was in. Police don't believe she was the intended target, but she was seriously wounded.
"When she was hit, it hit the right side of her chest. [It] went through her lung, did some type of spin move inside her body [and] took out her spleen and colon," Vanderaa said.
He has spent night and day beside her bed at the Health Sciences Centre since.
Outside the hospital on Thursday, he admitted he is angry this could happen to an innocent bystander.
"I think that any emergency vehicle that's marked with sirens and everything, why do they not have alarm systems?" he said. "If there's a gun in the car whether they're on a pursuit, whether they leave their car to foot chase, how easy is it to shut the door and click the button?"
For now, he's focusing on his daughter's recovery and is grateful for the care she's getting.
"HSC and their staff and the people on hand with my daughter that saved her life have been amazing," he said, his voice breaking. "And the Winnipeg police, the way they handled it and the way they were so swift and their compassion and their caring is impeccable."
Vanderaa raised Calli alone since she was 18 months old.
"I've raised her as best I could — done everything I can. Everything I do every day is for her," he said. "I want to make sure the stepping stones are laid out for her to do whatever she wants to do."
Calli in intensive care
Calli is still in intensive care.
"She has talked, very little. A lot of times she keeps saying that she's sorry. She's sorry that this happened. I'm like, 'There's nothing you can be sorry about. You did the right thing. You were staying in touch with dad like you were supposed to.' It was just a random thing," he said.
Vanderaa said he wants to see whoever committed the crime to face justice.
"When I think about him, honestly I could have dealt with street justice. I wanted his head. I was so mad at him … You don't go after young women, little girls, teenagers. It doesn't make you tough. It makes you a fool. He's just a fool," he said.
"I don't even want to talk about him. Every time I talk about him, I'm just in rage. My day will come in court when I get to face him, and I can hardly wait for that day."