If mental health experts can’t identify murderers, what’s the backup plan?

A profound mental health crisis lies at the heart of violence in America. Decarlos Brown Jr., the suspect in the brutal stabbing death of the Ukrainian woman Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, North Carolina, was in a mental hospital earlier this year and was diagnosed with schizophrenia. But doctors wouldn’t have released him if they had viewed him as a danger to himself or others.

Similarly, the killers at Minneapolis’ Annunciation Catholic School and Nashville’s Covenant School both struggled with mental illness. Nearly all mass shooters also battled suicidal thoughts.

Our mental health system cannot serve as the last line of defense — too many mistakes slip through.

“We will never arrest our way out of issues such as homelessness and mental health,” Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles warne