Psychiatrist Explains Canada’s Worst School Shooting in 40 Years

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Canada has just experienced its worst school shooting in more than 40 years.

In this video, I break down what we currently know from the police press conference and publicly available information, and just as importantly, what we do not know yet.

The suspect was an 18 year old who identified as female and had a documented history of severe mental health struggles. Police had previously responded to the home multiple times for mental health concerns. There were prior psychiatric holds. There were reports of high dose psychiatric medications. There were discussions online about psychedelics, antipsychotics, ECT, and possible ketamine treatment.

We need to talk about this carefully.

Because whenever there is a mass act of violence, the public conversation immediately fractures into political camps. But as a physician, and someone who has worked both in clinical psychiatry and at the FDA, my focus is different.

We have to ask:

- What role, if any, did psychiatric medications play?

- What role, if any, did severe mental illness play?

- What role, if any, did cross sex hormones play?

- Was this a targeted, grievance driven attack?

- Or was this a destabilization event, potentially medication induced?

Certain psychiatric medications carry FDA warnings for agitation, akathisia, mania, impulsivity, aggression, and in rare cases, violent behavior. These reactions are uncommon, but they are real. I have seen them firsthand.

We also know that the transgender population has extraordinarily high rates of psychiatric medication exposure, along with very high rates of suicidality. That is not a political statement. That is epidemiological data.

The police have appropriately stated it is too early to determine motive or correlation.

That is exactly right.

We must allow investigators to examine digital records, medical history, toxicology, and motive before drawing conclusions.

My goal in this video is not to inflame. It is to analyze.

When tragedy happens, the worst thing we can do is shut down inquiry. The second worst thing we can do is rush to simplistic answers.

If we care about preventing future violence, we have to be willing to examine every factor, including medications, psychiatric history, hormone exposure, and ideology, without fear and without agenda.

Because lives depend on getting this right.

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