Arrest warrants out for 2 men who fled Alberta Hospital psychiatric facility

The Edmonton Police Service is searching for two men who escaped the Edmonton psychiatric facility where they were being held.

Arrest warrants have been issued for Justin Somers, 39, and Coletan Bearhead, 29, who were both last seen Tuesday night fleeing from Alberta Hospital, near Fort Road in northeast Edmonton.

Police said the duo were reportedly seen running towards 18 Street around 7 p.m. Somers and Bearhead are now unlawfully at large, considered dangerous and should not be approached, EPS said.

Somers is five feet 11 inches tall and weighs approximately 250 pounds. He has brown hair and hazel eyes, and a teardrop tattoo under his left eye. He was last seen wearing a camouflage jacket and camouflage pants.

This isn’t the first time Somers has escaped: in 2015, while on an outing to the Kinsmen Recreation Centre, he disappeared after using the bathroom.

A Canada-wide warrant was issued and Somers was found two days later in west Edmonton.

The man with schizophrenia was being held at Alberta Hospital after being charged with second-degree murder for the 2011 stomping death of a fellow inmate at the Edmonton Remand Centre, but found not criminally responsible in 2013.

Court heard that Somers was in a cell in May 2011 for breaching bail conditions when he attacked Barry Stewart.

The 60-year-old man had been arrested after failing to pay a fine for riding on public transit without paying the fare.

Both Somers and Stewart were assessed as having mental health issues and the recommendation was for a special unit to accommodate that but there was no room, so they were placed together after consultation with a psychologist.

Stewart was asleep on the floor when Somers climbed onto a concrete bench and jumped with both feet onto Stewart’s head.

Somers’ trial was told the accused stomped on Stewart’s head 26 times before he was stopped by guards.  He was deemed in a psychiatric assessment as a possible risk to other people.

Bearhead is six feet tall and weighs approximately 220 pounds. He has black hair, brown eyes, a moustache and pierced ears. He was last seen wearing a red hat, a red shirt, a black hoodie and black pants.

He also has a history of mental health conditions and is known to be very violent, according to a most wanted alert from the Edmonton Police Service in 2024.

Alberta Hospital has inpatient and outpatient programs and treats both patients who are there voluntarily and people under court orders.

— with files from The Canadian Press