Note the reference to mental illness. This unlies much crime -- and ignoring the fact means that much crime will simply go unchecked:
Man in custody after nine people attacked in hammer rampage
ANNA MEHLER PAPERNY
August 5, 2008
A man is facing 17 criminal charges - including 12 charges of assault after a flurry of attacks in a space of a few minutes Sunday night, Vancouver Police Constable Jana McGuinness said yesterday.
Around 10:20 p.m. Sunday, a man stole some pop drinks from Tutti convenience store on Davie Street in the city's west end, police said.
He then attacked nine people on the street or at nearby lounges and restaurants with a hammer in the space of less than five minutes, before several people were able to hold him down until police arrived.
Most of the injuries were minor, Constable McGuinness said, although some victims stayed overnight in hospital for observation.
"There was bruising, some cuts to the head. I know one guy got stitches," she said.
Constable McGuinness said the man is known to police and has a history of mental illness. She said she thinks these are his first criminal charges.
Full story here:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080805.ATTACK05/TPStory/National
8 comments:
You are so right. It's shameful what has happened to mental health care in this country.
Michael Kirby's report has all but been ignored.
Tragic for all of us.
Mental illness is not the sole factor here. It is however a mitigating factor as Morton well knows.
It's whether he KNEW what he was doing was ILLEGAL.
I suspect he did. However I could be wrong.
I think this guy should be locked up indefinitely until he is better.
If he is very ill, he should go to a psychiatric facility for life until he is proven not to be a "risk" to society.
If he knew what he was doing, jail is the way to go.
99% of people that are mentally ill do not commit crimes.
He should be treated as a risk to society, as he has proven he is.
Johnathon, you've jumped the shark.
You honestly believe that this person was not in a delusional state and just went about the horrendous acts that he did, knowing that it was 'against the law'? Do you honestly believe that this man thought that out? How bizarre.
Why do think it took the police force so long to intervene?
Talking him down was not an option. Someone experiencing a psychotic episode cannot be reached. No amount of talking will reach him, he/she doesn't understand what you are saying. They are in a world we do not understand.
You can't be both present and absent.
If you don't get that, well I don't know what to say.
Burying the problem is the Conservative way. The problem is of course, if it still has life, the problem will dig itself to the surface.
Sadly I believe this is the first in what may be a handful -or more- of copycat incidents.
'Copycat' may not be the right term, but I think we will certainly see a (hopefully small) rash of incidents whereby those prone to destabilizing thoughts will have more 'courage' (or less mental resistance) to act on them. Li's actions were powerfully psychological, who hasn't been fascinated by the tragic ongoing episode, and I believe we can only wait to witness the repercussions, or after-shocks. I believe this hammer incident is one of them.
Mark, I don't think those are copy-cat incidents.
I think they are an example of how we have not addressed the issue.
Copy-cats follow the news, etc. That would not be the profile of these people.
Come on people, we have this wrong. It's time to address social justice.
How this isn't obvious is beyond me.
knb,
I've agreed with everything you've said so far, and as I've argued elsewhere the Greyhound bus incident has the potential to spark a national conversation on security, or on mental health, and pray god the latter.
The Greyhound bus incident peaked last Thursday as the no. 1 news item on BBC and no. 2 on CNN (or maybe I have them reversed). I can't remember a Canadian news item gaining such international coverage. This is not an item that news-buffs are following, it has captured the imagination of many who do not otherwise read the news. Not even sensational shootings in our country have captured such international attention.
I do hope you are right knb, that the hammer episode is not linked, but I think it is linked precisely for the reason you point out, the Greyhound bus incident was a powerful powerful example of a mental health breakdown, and this is the conversation we must engage in to address the root causes. But I maintain there will be more incidents as a result.
Mark, I agree there will be more incidents, but I maintain the only link is our collective lack of attention to a growing problem. One that we created.
We're not too clever are we?
What was worse? What this guy did with the hammer, or what Paul Bernardo did with Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffey.
It's funny how Liebrals try to brush this off as a mental health issue when the story is only hours old.
Like I said before, 99% of mentally ill people do not commit crimes.
This guy, if in a delusional stae, could never do what he did. It took legitimate thought processes to do something like that.
This guy should be locked up for life, all the while you liberals look for the "root causes".
Godd luck finding the "root cause".
My guess is you never will.
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