How Abdi’s family tried to help him in the months before his death

The coroner’s inquest into the death of Abdirahman Abdi took a deeply personal turn Wednesday, focusing on the 38-year-old Somali-Canadian’s history of mental illness in the run-up to his fateful encounter with police in Ottawa.

Abdi, 38, died on July 25, 2016, a day after he was brutally arrested by two Ottawa police officers.

During the investigation, it was determined that Abdi got married in Ethiopia in 2015 and returned to Canada later that year. According to. that’s when he became quiet and withdrawn comments provided by his family’s lawyer.

As investigative lawyer Alessandra Hollands said in her opening remarks last week: “It is important to understand the circumstances leading up to (the day of his arrest).”

on Wednesday, agreed statement of facts about Abdi’s mental health historyand testimony from the psychiatrist who treated him provided unprecedented context about Abdi, his disturbing behavior and his family’s continued efforts to help him in the months before his arrest and death.

“His family has been very, very involved, which is reassuring,” Dr. Daniel Saul said of the role of Abdi’s relatives between January and July 2016.

Abdi himself sought care and remained cooperative and non-violent throughout treatment, Saul added.

He calls 911

On January 25, 2016, Abdi called 911 for police assistance, but appeared disoriented and unable to provide detailed answers.

An officer who went to the family’s apartment building determined the call was not a police matter, but returned later that evening when Abdi’s brother-in-law called 911. Abdi had not eaten for several days and was showing signs of paranoia, although he was not violent.

The family stated that Abdi saw things or heard voices. Abdi denied this and said he had no intention of harming himself.

Police found no grounds for detention under the Mental Health Act, but tried to help the family convince Abdi to voluntarily go to hospital. He initially agreed, but then changed his mind.

No worries about aggression and violence

Six days later, on January 31, 2016, Abdi called 911 again and asked for the police. They learned that Abdi thought he would be deported and that he had divorced his estranged wife. The family was concerned about his thinking.

An officer with the Ottawa Police Service’s mental health unit (OPS) called a relative in early February for further information but received no response.

Four days later, Abdi’s family took him to the emergency room “after the relatively sudden onset of changes in his behavior, personality change, and difficulty eating and sleeping,” according to the agreed statement of facts. He was talking to himself and potentially experiencing hallucinations, so he was admitted for a psychiatric evaluation.

“There were concerns about his physical condition and functioning, but there were no concerns about suicide or risk to himself, and there were no concerns about aggression, violence or risk to others,” Saul testified Wednesday.

Abdi started taking antipsychotic medication, which he was “very comfortable with,” Saul said. “(He was looking for) relief from the fear, confusion and emotional distress he was experiencing.”

The investigation also found that Abdi was not taking his medications regularly as he was trying to observe a religious fast.

By March 10, Abdi was still showing some symptoms of psychosis, but “there were no safety concerns and at no point during my care for Mr. Abdi did any suicidal ideation, violence or aggression occur,” Saul said.

In April, Abdi showed signs of improvement, but by the time he and his family were hospitalized in early July, “his mental health had deteriorated significantly” compared to visits in April and May, according to Saul. The affidavit says he was talking to himself, hearing voices, not sleeping and showing more visible signs of “schizophrenia spectrum disorder.”

As one of the Chief Coroner’s Office lawyers put it on the opening day of the inquest, “he had periods of improvement and periods of difficulty.”

Another doctor examined Abdi every day from July 4 to July 7, and on July 19 he missed the appointment.

Visit to the police station

A week before his hospital visit in early July, Abdi went to OPS headquarters on Elgin Street, where his speech again seemed slurred and he was seen by police mental health officers.

“Officers determined that he did not pose a threat to himself or others and did not behave aggressively towards the police,” according to the agreed statement of facts.

Police asked a Somali-speaking officer to help translate and took Abdi home.

A month later, on July 24, 2016, Abdi was groping women in his Hintonburg neighborhood and police were called, leading to an altercation during which one of the officers punched Abdi in the head several times as they tried to handcuff him.

The circumstances leading to this meeting and its details were the subject of much testimony and debate during the investigation.

Abdi died in hospital the day after the confrontation. Another doctor who saw Abdi expressed his condolences to the family.

“I was shocked and terribly saddened by the loss,” Saul said of his reaction to Abdi’s death. “It was a very unexpected tragedy.”

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