Murder of Walter Reynolds

According to the RCMP interview with Mabiour, in 2012 he became sick with Hodgkin's Disease. His test results were sent to the Village Mall Walk In Clinic, and he was later sent to the Red Deer Regional Hospital by Willem Grabe, where he was diagnosed with colon cancer. After experiencing pain and swelling, the next day he went to the clinic where Reynolds gave him pills. Chemical castration is a common method of treatment for hormone-dependent cancers such as colon cancer. Once his treatment at the hospital was complete, Mabiour filed a complaint with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta, which was dismissed. He then wrote to his member of parliament Earl Dreeshen, the Government of Alberta and the Alberta Human Rights Commission but received no response. According to Mabiour, if Dr. Willem Grabe had been at the clinic at the time of the attack, he would have killed him rather than Dr. Reynolds. == Attack ==

On the morning of the attack, Mabiour threw out his medication before travelling to the clinic via a Red Deer Transit bus. Patients and employees fled the building and the police were called. While waiting for the police to respond, two patients held the doors to the clinic closed to prevent Mabiour from escaping. The RCMP responded within 2-3 minutes, and when a responding officer tried to enter the building, Mabiour threw the hammer at him. After five minutes, around ten officers entered the clinic and arrested Mabiour. Mabiour had initially planned to die by suicide by cop but instead laid down and surrendered. Reynolds later died in hospital the same day. == Victim ==

Dr. Walter Reynolds was born in Pretoria, South Africa in 1975. He graduated from the University of Pretoria with a degree in medicine and began practicing as a physician shortly after. He worked as a family physician at the Village Mall Walk In Clinic for 14 years, also volunteering at the Red Deer Regional Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic. == Perpetrator ==

Deng Mabiour, 54, was born around 1966 in South Sudan, then the Republic of Sudan. He had fled South Sudan and was in a refugee camp in Ethiopia prior to moving to Canada in the 1990s as a government-sponsored refugee under Operation Lifeline Sudan. == Trial and death ==

Mabiour was taken into custody at the Red Deer Remand Centre. He had applied for a lawyer via legal aid but later cancelled his request. He made another brief court appearance with the Red Deer provincial court on September 9. Mabiour pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder, assault of a peace officer, and assault with a weapon. He made another court appearance with the Court of King's Bench of Alberta on 20 May 2021, where his jury trial was set to run from November 22 to December 17. On 1 November 2021, Mabiour died at the Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, only a few weeks before his trial was set to begin. His cause of death was not revealed, although Mabiour had been receiving treatment for his colon cancer while in custody since March. == Reactions ==

A makeshift memorial was created outside of the clinic by community members. A GoFundMe for Reynold's family raised over $180,000 CAD within two days of the attack. On the day of the attack, condolences were offered by Alberta premier Jason Kenney, health minister Tyler Shandro, and Red Deer mayor Tara Veer. The murder had a deep impact on the Canadian medical community, and led to a larger conversation about physician abuse in Canada. == References ==