When I was younger I used to think people who didn’t want homeless shelters in their area were stuck up yuppies who didn’t want to come into contact with the unwashed masses. That was before i realized that most homeless people were homeless due to drug or alcohol abuse and were often times mentally ill. Here’s an illustrative example:

West Bloomfield, MO (AHN) – A homeless man was arrested after allegedly attacking four people with a chainsaw. The incident was said to have taken place at a local homeless shelter near the Jefferson City area.

The suspect was Matthew Watkins, 28, who was said to have injured the victims Saturday, while he was participating in a training program being offered at the Rev. Larry Rice’s Mid-American Care Center.

Workers at the shelter were reportedly getting ready for an anniversary dinner to be held at the shelter when Watkins, who had been continually complaining about his problems with his mother, suddenly took a chainsaw from a workshop, and began to threaten people with it. Watkins was also said to have brandished a knife at one point, although authorities did not know exactly when.

The attack was apparently premeditated and racially motivated:

I think there was some premeditation to this,” Rev. Larry Rice told the group of journalists gathered at the New Life’s Mid-America Care Center. “After talking to some of the staff I feel like it could have been a possibility.”

One of the reasons Rice cited for this belief was the timing of the attack. Although he was running late because of problems at another site, Rice said he and a few other senior New Life staff members were scheduled to arrive in New Bloomfield at 2 p.m. Saturday – the same time trainee Matthew Watkins, 28, of St. Clair began his assault.

Rice also noted that the chain saw Watkins used to attack New Life employees Bruce Caulkins and Harvey Gaddy was at the back door rather than in the workroom as originally thought.

He said Watkins’ mother has contacted him since the incident and told him Watkins has problems with authority. He also noted that racial slurs directed at some of his victims and the carving of the initials KKK on a car hood indicated another motivating factor.

“This man was lashing out at authority figures, and at African Americans,” Rice said. “He’s just a very troubled person.”

Watkins’ supervisor, James Chapman, whom he attacked with a knife, said that Watkins said ‘Die n- – – -r,’ as he charged at him.

Chapman was Watkins’ second victim after slicing open the throat of KLNG-FM 90.3 DJ trainee Maurice Thomas. He described Watkins’ manner Saturday as “absolutely crazy.”

“It seemed like he was so blinded by hate, fact or fiction he didn’t know the difference,” Chapman said. “There is no doubt in my mind he wanted to kill as many people as he could get his hands on.

The mother of the maniac later told people her son was schizophrenic, had been making derogatory racial comments about the victims and had carved “KKK” into someones car hood. Being a fabulous mother she didn’t tell anyone about these warning signs before her son tried to murder a bunch of people, but after the fact took the time to blame the mental health services in Missouri which hadn’t bothered to clean up the mess she made of her son.

Halfway houses and homeless shelters are a good thing obviously, and helping people get on their feet is a noble goal for any church or non-profit. But high risk offenders and dangerous individuals should be screened out by some process so that those who want to make use of these services can do so without risking their lives. I don’t know how you could make that happen, but maybe this is an instance where the government should be doing more than they are.