Random violence like Abbotsford stabbings rare but often linked to mental illness

It's happened before.

The horror that unfolded at Abbotsford Secondary, killing13-year-old Letisha Reimer Monday, is not the first time a random stabbing left a B.C. community struggling for answers.

Three other similar attacks in B.C. resulted in the suspect being found not criminally responsible.

While it's not clear whether mental illness played a role in whatGabrielBrandonKlein isaccused of doing Tuesday, advocates say this and other alarming attacks should shine a light on an inconsistentand inadequate mental health system.

In December2012, Nicholas Osuteye, 35, asked to be taken to hospital, only to be discharged the next day.

Osuteye suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and after leaving St. Paul's Hospital, he violently assaulted three elderly women on the Downtown Eastside.

He was arrested for attempted murder shortly after wearing nothing but his underwear, his medication unopened.

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Attacker stopped taking medication

Osuteye had stoppedtaking his medicationand told police he "planned to hunt human beings like animals for the purpose of murdering as many human beings as possible."

His family had saidthey tried repeatedly to get him help.

A few months earlier, in February 2012, Mohamed Amer stabbed a 71-year-old man in the chest, barely missing his heart, outside a Waves coffee shop in Vancouver.

Amer had also been released from St. Paul's Hospital twice in the days leading up to the attack. Both timespolice had brought him there, concerned he was suicidal and homicidal.

According to psychiatric evidence, Amer thought he would get into heaven if he killed the random stranger whom he believed was the devil.

3 attacks after hospital release

It happened again in January 2013, when Jerome Bonneric, 33, went on a stabbing spree in a West End apartment building after he was released from the same hospital.

He was found not criminally responsible for all 12 counts of assault due to what his lawyercalled a sudden psychotic episode.

"The guy kept bashing her and bashing her so I tried to stop him ...I think Iwas hit with a hammer." said Neil Gillon, one of seven assault victims, at the time.

By 2013, Vancouver police Chief Jim Chu declared a "mental health crisis," arguing officers with guns should not be the first line of service for people with mentally illnesses.

Mayor Gregor Robertson raised concerns about the lack of services to treat a growing crisis of severe, untreated mental illness.

In 2014, the VPD reported more than 3,000 people were apprehended under the Mental Health Act, which was up 32 per centsince 2010.

Hospital reviewed protocol

The three random attacks prompted the hospital to review protocols and ensure patients were properly assessed before discharge.

Twenty-tworecommendations were implement to improve communication between police and hospital staff.

In recent years B.C. has invested millions into the mental health services, but advocates says it's not enough.

"This is tragic, the loss of a child is tragic, " said Bev Gutray, CEO of the Canadian Mental Health Association ofB.C.

More services needed

While it's not clear whether mental illness played any role in Monday's attack, Klein was certified by a physician under the Mental Health Act soon after his arrest, and the Crown says he refused to co-operate or walk to his court appearance Thursday.

Gutray says too often, B.C. patients with mental illness don't get treatment until they're in crisis.

"Our challenge is we've gone from a from a system that at one time housed5,000 patients on Riverview lands to a system where we have acute care psychiatry beds and a community system," said Gutray,

"It's not consistent enough across the province and the services are not as timely as they need to be.

"I really hope British Columbians do get up in arms because they want treatment that works and to be readily available ... before a patient reaches a psychiatric crisis point."

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Violence is rare

The Canadian Mental Health Association has launched a campaign lobbying for better treatment, suggesting if cancer is treated at its early stages so should mental illness.

"It seems like people with mental illness have to be at Stage 4 before they get help in B.C." said Diane Neilsen of the Community Legal Assistance Society.

She also points out that violent attacks are very rare.

"Clients like that get a lot of media attention because the incidents are so alarming but the majority of people with a mental health diagnosis are not violent."

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