The coroner’s inquest into the death of Abdirahman Abdi took an intensely personal turn on Wednesday, focusing on the 38-year-old Somali-Canadian’s history of mental illness in the lead-up to his fateful encounter with Ottawa police.
Abdi, 38, died on July 25, 2016, a day after his violent arrest by two Ottawa police officers.
The inquest has heard that Abdi got married in Ethiopia in 2015 and then returned to Canada later that year. That’s when he became silent and reclusive, according to remarks given by his family’s lawyer.
As inquest lawyer Alessandra Hollands said in her own opening remarks last week: “It’s important to understand the circumstances leading up to [the day of his arrest].”
On Wednesday, an agreed statement of facts about Abdi’s mental health history, as well as testimony from a psychiatrist who treated him, offered unprecedented context about Abdi, his concerning behaviour and his family’s sustained efforts to help him in the months before his arrest and death.
“His family was very, very much involved, and reassuringly so,” said Dr. Daniel Saul of Abdi’s relatives’ role from January to July of 2016.
Abdi himself sought care and remained co-operative and non-violent during his treatment, Saul added.
Calls to 911
On Jan. 25, 2016, Abdi called 911 to ask for help from police, but he sounded confused and was 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 night after Abdi’s brother-in-law called 911. Abdi had not eaten in a few days and was showing signs of paranoia, though he was not violent.
The family said Abdi had been seeing things or hearing voices. Abdi denied that and said he had no intention of harming himself.
Police found no grounds for a Mental Health Act apprehension, but tried to help the family convince Abdi to go to hospital voluntarily. He initially agreed but then changed his mind.
No concerns about aggression or violence
Six days later, on Jan. 31, 2016, Abdi again called 911 asking for police. They learned Abdi thought he was going to be deported, and that he had gotten divorced from his estranged wife. The family was worried about his thought process.
An officer from the Ottawa Police Service’s (OPS) mental health unit called a relative in early February to follow up, but got no answer.
Four days later, Abdi’s family brought him to the emergency department “after a relatively sudden onset of changes in his behaviour, personality change and not eating or sleeping well,” according to the agreed statement of facts. He was speaking to himself and potentially experiencing hallucinations, so he was admitted for psychiatric assessment.
“There were concerns about his physical well-being and his functioning, but there were no concerns regarding suicidality or risk to self, nor were there any concerns regarding aggression or violence or risk to others,” Saul testified on Wednesday.
Abdi began taking an anti-psychotic medication, which he was “very much in agreement with,” Saul said. “[He was] seeking relief from the fear and confusion and emotional distress that he was experiencing.”
The inquest has also heard Abdi was not consistently taking his meds, due to his trying to observe religious fasting.
By March 10, Abdi was still showing some symptoms of psychosis, but “there were no safety concerns and at no point during my care of Mr. Abdi was there any suicidality or violence or aggression,” Saul said.
Abdi showed signs of improvement in April, but by the time he went to hospital with his family in early July, “his mental health had deteriorated significantly” compared to his appointments in April and May, according to Saul. He was speaking to himself, hearing voices, not sleeping and showing more evident signs of a “schizophrenia spectrum illness,” according to the statement.
As one lawyer for the Office of the Chief Coroner put it on the opening day of the inquest, “he had periods of improvement and more difficult periods.”
Another doctor assessed Abdi daily from July 4 to July 7 and he missed an appointment on July 19.
Visit to police station
A week before his hospital visit in early July, Abdi went to OPS headquarters on Elgin Street, where his speech again appeared confused and he was seen by officers from the force’s mental health unit.
“Officers found that he was not a threat to himself or others and was not aggressive towards police,” according to the agreed statement of facts.
Police had a Somali-speaking officer help translate and drove Abdi back home.
One month later, on July 24, 2016, Abdi groped women in his Hintonburg neighbourhood and police were called, leading to the altercation during which one officer punched Abdi in the head several times while they tried to get handcuffs on him.
The circumstances leading to that encounter, and the details of it, have been the subject of much testimony and debate during the inquest.
Abdi died in hospital one day after the confrontation. Another doctor who’d seen Abdi offered her condolences to the family.
“I was quite shocked and I was terribly saddened by the loss,” Saul said of his own reaction to Abdi’s death. “This was a very unexpected tragedy.”
WATCH / The death of Abdirahman Abdi: Here’s what you need to know:
WARNING: This video contains graphic content | Eight years after Abdirahman Abdi died following a violent struggle with Ottawa police, a coroner’s inquest is bringing the event back into the spotlight. Here’s what you need to know.