Support workers had warned for years that a man now accused of a random stabbing attack on a worker at a Winnipeg restaurant was in desperate need of mental health supports — and worried he would be a danger to the public without that help, says the executive director of a transitional residence where the man stayed.
Police say Robert Alan Ingram, 27, was charged with aggravated assault and weapons offences after an 18-year-old woman was repeatedly stabbed Thursday evening at the Olive Garden restaurant at the corner of Reenders Drive and Lagimodiere Boulevard, in Winnipeg’s Transcona area.
The 18-year-old restaurant worker had serious upper-body stab wounds and got emergency medical aid from bystanders before officers arrived around 8 p.m., Winnipeg police said during a Friday morning news conference.
She was rushed to hospital in unstable condition and later upgraded to stable.
Marion Willis, the executive director of Morberg House, said Ingram is socially withdrawn, and has struggled with methamphetamine addiction and mental health issues, including delusions.
He first came to the transitional residence for men that she runs in early 2019, Willis said.
She said last time Ingram was hospitalized, her staff tried to urge the hospital not to discharge him, warning that they feared “he’s going to kill somebody.”
“This was a young man in desperate need of psychiatric evaluation and long-term clinical psychology services that he could never get.”
Willis said since Ingram first came to Morberg House, the organization’s staff and the man’s family have tried without success to get him those services, by attempting to have him admitted to the Selkirk Mental Health Centre.
“What we see today is the outcome of a system, a mental health system that just either couldn’t or wouldn’t respond,” she said.
Willis said she has spoken with Ingram’s mother, and both women’s thoughts are with the victim of Thursday’s attack.
Court records show Ingram has been in and out of jail over the last few years, after pleading guilty to offences including arson, theft and mischief.
He remains in custody on the charges related to the stabbing.
Suspect brought knife to restaurant: police
During Friday morning’s news conference, Winnipeg Police Service spokesperson Const. Claude Chancy said police believe Ingram was at the restaurant for about an hour before he attacked the woman without provocation “and repeatedly stabbed her in the upper body.”
Ingram and the woman did not know each other, Chancy said. He added the incident was witnessed “by many, many people” and was likely traumatic for them.
Ingram ran out of the restaurant before officers arrived around 8 p.m., police say. They found him nearby on Regent Avenue and arrested him after what Chancy said was a brief struggle.
A sharp-edged weapon, believed to be used in the attack, was found in his possession, Chancy said. It is believed the knife wasn’t from the restaurant, but was brought there by Ingram, he said.
Ingram is also charged with possession of a weapon and failing to comply with a probation order.
In an emailed statement, Olive Garden confirmed the woman who was stabbed is an employee, and said the chain is “thankful that our team member is expected to make a full recovery.”
The restaurant’s Friday morning statement also expressed gratitude “to the first responders who responded so quickly, and for the efforts of local law enforcement in apprehending the suspect.”
It also said Olive Garden is focused “on supporting our injured team member and all team members in the restaurant.”
Counselling is available to all staff through the employee assistance program, the statement added.
Police investigators are looking into what happened leading up to the attack, but at this point there’s nothing indicating any type of discussion took place, Chancy said.
“We know for a fact that it was unprovoked and random in nature. That’s what’s so alarming about it — it’s alarming that it just happened so fast.”
History of arson
CBC News has learned Ingram is the same person accused of setting 14 fires over a three-day span, including one at St. Boniface Hospital, in May 2020.
In three of those cases, including the fire at the hospital, he was charged with disregard for human life related to arson because there were people inside or near the structure that was set ablaze.
At the time, police said they believed the incidents were related to methamphetamine use.
At Friday’s news conference, Chancy would not comment on whether Ingram was under the influence of any substances at the time of Thursday’s attack.
Anyone with information on the stabbing is asked to call police at 204-986-6219, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 204-786-8477 or online.
A man is in custody after what Winnipeg police call a ‘random, unprovoked’ stabbing at a Transcona restaurant. The attack left a young woman with serious injuries.
