For many of us, the Parliament Hill shooting that ended with one murdered soldier and one dead gunman has left us angry and possibly a little scared.
As Canada has become increasingly embroiled in warfare in Iraq, several MPs suggested the incident is an example of overseas turmoil coming home to Canada.
However, when we look at the life of shooter Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, it becomes clear that his story parallels many mentally unbalanced young men who became killers after getting their hands on a gun.
Zehaf-Bibeau was a crack-cocaine addict who robbed a Vancouver McDonald's in 2011, apparently hoping a stint in prison would help him clean up.
In another instance he was arrested under the Mental Health Act but received no help.
It may be true Zehaf-Bibeau's act was precipitated by his reading online posts from an extremist promoting jihad in Canada, but by the time he read those posts it was likely already far too late.
We will likely have a future conversation about extending the powers of CSIS or enacting tough new laws on online conversations, but we should probably spend that time talking about investing in drug treatment and mental health facilities.
It's hard to summon any compassion for Zehaf-Bibeau today - he's just the coward that killed a hero - but three years ago he was one more desperate mentally ill addict. Our social safety net was profoundly ineffective.
If he'd got just a little bit of help two lives might have been saved.
