Posted: Mar 09, 2021 9:50 AM AT | Last Updated: March 10
On Jan. 3, 2017, Lionel Desmond shot his daughter, mother, wife and then himself in a home in Upper Big Tracadie, N.S. (Dave Irish/CBC)
The Lionel Desmond inquiry heard more this week about the nearly three months in which the Afghanistan veteran went without suitable followup treatment after being released from a residential psychiatric program to treat his severe post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression.
Desmond left Ste. Anne's Hospital in Montreal on Aug. 15, 2016, with a discharge plan that recommended ongoing psychological and psychiatric visits. The clinicians at the hospital told his Veterans Affairs caseworker and his community team in New Brunswick that they also felt he should get a neurocognitive assessment to see whether some of his symptoms were connected to head trauma he reportedly experienced in combat and in training.