Police have said the teenage shooter who killed eight people and herself in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., had previously been apprehended under the Mental Health Act.
In a Wednesday press conference, RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald said police had previously visited the home where Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, lived, and that she had been apprehended under the act on multiple occasions.
Here’s what you need to know about the act.
THE FRAMEWORK
Each province has a mental health act, which is designed to outline a legal framework of what should happen when a person with a mental illness needs treatment and protection for themselves or others.
Jonathan Morris, chief executive officer of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s B.C. division, says the law permits police to apprehend and transport a person to a hospital or mental health facility for an assessment.
He said they can then be involuntarily admitted for treatment if a doctor deems it necessary, which means the patient cannot leave on their own terms.
There are criteria for involuntary admission: if a mental illness “seriously impairs someone’s ability to function”; if there’s a risk of deterioration or harm; if they require some form of psychiatric treatment; and if they are unwilling to be treated, Morris said.
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A doctor or nurse must complete a certificate, which grants them the right to hold that person for up to 48 hours, to assess the patient and determine if it’s safe for them to be discharged or not.
Morris, who is not privy to information about the suspect in Tumbler Ridge and was speaking generally about the act, said any patient should be comprehensively assessed and a plan should be established before they are discharged.
“I don’t know what happened in this case, but sometimes there can be, more often than not, gaps along that journey, right? People might not leave with a full picture of a diagnosis, for example,” he said.
The Canadian Press requested additional information from the province’s Health Ministry on the suspect’s mental health treatment.
The ministry said the RCMP will make decisions about what information will be released, and if key issues aren’t answered through the investigation, the government will consider measures to provide further answers.
HOW LONG CAN A PATIENT BE HELD?
If a doctor determines a patient needs further treatment after 48 hours, they will complete a second certificate, which allows them to detain the person for another month.
The health provider can keep renewing that certificate if they think the patient needs further treatment.
“The certificates are the legal documentation that are supporting the decision to suspend, take away someone’s ability to freely leave the hospital, and also be subject to involuntary treatment,” Morris said.
“Under our law there’s no limit on total duration. The detention can be indefinite, but it needs to be supported by those renewals.”
HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO TUMBLER RIDGE SHOOTING?
McDonald said Van Rootselaar had previously been apprehended under the provincial Mental Health Act on different occasions for assessment and followup. He said she was hospitalized “in some circumstances.”
He also said police had seized weapons from the home, which were later returned, and that Van Rootselaar had dropped out of school about four years ago.
When patients are discharged without a robust treatment plan, Morris said that can lead to re-admission.
“We also have seen, again, across the province, and I think this happens not just in B.C., people who repeatedly meet the criteria for an involuntary admission and are kind of repeatedly admitted and then there’s a discharge and then admitted again. That’s definitely something to pay attention to.”
He said the overlap between firearm and mental health laws will need to be thoroughly examined in the wake of this tragedy.
Myself I identify as a deranged lunatic. Partly just because I’m a donkey but partly because I have a raging case of TDS. I ramble on endlessly like a total stooge. Oh well.
Stop referring to him as a ‘she’, XY chromosomes = male, no matter what you believe you are.
it a was not a “herself’. maybe if the “machine” and the system and the government quit pushing all his b s and drugs, this would no be happening
Within a 48 hour hold a person can be incapacitated with a DEPOT injection of Abilify. The public has the right to know what drugs were prescribed and injected since 2020. There is a coverup and knowing this information will save lives and future tragedies like Lapu Lapu may be prevented
The most important question that needs to be answered is “what DEPOT drugs were injected “? There is a common thread here with Lapu Lapu, plane hijacking, Tumbler Ridge etc
The media, educators and politicians are the problem that is destroying the fabric of our society. By accepting the delusions of mentally ill people they are exacerbating an already dangerous situation. BTW when a baby is born it is either a male or female, no one can “assign” their sex. If later they want to call themselves something else as an adukt, that is their choice, but not as a new born.
Open your eyes you dummies stop acknowledging these deranged creatures to be accepted in society. They aren’t normal and others will never see otherwise.
He!!!!
The fact that you are calling this mental guy a SHE, is exactly the problem. Facts matter. Why can you not report the facts?
Or they go to seek help and can’t access help unless they wait to get into a group first, then wait a year or so to get in before they qualify for one on one counseling. Our mental health is a joke. They sit on their assessment and never seem to di anything to earn their wages.
Big surprise the canadian press honours the shooter by respecting HIS delusion of being a women. How many more innocent have to die before the government realizes the alphabet mafia is poisoning the minds of the youth.
Quote: “what should happen when a person with a mental illness needs treatment and protection for themselves or others” ?
Simple, they must be locked up until it’s 100 percent safe they are not a threat to the population.
Trans’s hormones are so messed up no wonder they go mental.
Oh, an HE was not a “she”. Saying “I identify as” is basically “I pretend to be”. Calling a bio-male a “she” is offensive to me and every real woman out there.
This killer wasn’t a “she.” It was psychotic guy, as they all are.
‘He.’
Not ‘she.’
Not ‘they.’
‘He.’
“who killed eight people and herself”
If your wondering why people no longer trust the old media, look no farther that the above quote from the story.
If the Sky is Blue, don’t tell me its Green and then wonder why no one believes the media any more.
The question needs to be asked and answered even though the shooter held an expired firearms how did they get a license in the first place if they had a history of mental health issues
All the excuses in the world doesn’t change the fact that the policy BC has for treating people with mental health issues isn’t good enough. People with mental health issues may have rights but those rights should not override the rights of the safety of the public.
This may be the law but from personal experience I can tell you that people cannot be held under the mental health act if they refuse treatment and are an adult. And once you attempt to have them committed involuntarily that person is going to be even more angry which then makes them even more dangerous to themselves and others.