Juston Root, a 41-year old diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, was shot at least 31 times by Boston police officers while he carried a paintball gun.
Photographer: Harry Scales/Bloomberg‘All the Systems Failed’: Inside America’s Mental Health Crisis
The 2020 shooting of Juston Root in Boston exposes how mental health patients with few options can fall into tragic encounters with police.
In early 2020, Juston Root’s condition was deteriorating.
Diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder as a young adult, the 41-year-old wasn’t taking his medicine, and those around him were concerned. His family felt that he should be civilly committed. His psychiatrist described him as “actively psychotic with poor self care,” according to a Jan. 6, 2020 evaluation. “He is not at acute risk and cannot be hospitalized against his will at this time but given his history we believe hospitalization is very likely.”