Skip to content

Man charged in Chilliwack River Valley shooting once again deemed mentally unfit

Judge decides Peter Kampos still does not meet the psychiatric test for fitness to stand trial
22854026_web1_Kampos-Courthouse
Peter Anthony Kampos is charged with attempted murder after a man was shot multiple times in the Chilliwack River Valley on March 25. His bail hearing is set for Nov. 6. (File)

A man charged in a random shooting in the Chilliwack River Valley who has repeatedly been deemed mentally unfit to stand trial has been found unfit yet again in BC Supreme Court.

But, according to the judge in the case, while Peter Anthony Kampos still has delusions regarding the justice system, he is apparently getting better at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam.

Kampos is charged with shooting Cameron Rose while the young man sat in his car in the Chilliwack River Valley on March 25, 2017. Rose was hit in the shoulder, and managed to escape the scene, driving down the road only to find military personnel on an exercise who helped him.

Kampos is charged with attempt murder with a firearm; discharging a firearm with intent to wound/disfigure; and intentionally discharging a firearm into or at a place, knowing that or being reckless as to whether another person is present in the place.

His trial began in Oct. 9, 2018 and the Crown wrapped up its case on Oct. 18. Defence was expected to begin after the weekend, but Kampos’s lawyer Mark Swartz told the court he had mental health concerns about his client.

Swartz said he’s been told Kampos is waking up “almost forgetting his first name” and Kampos referred to the witness box as “the penalty box.”

“He also indicated his dreams are being stolen and turned into drugs,” Swartz told the court.

• READ MORE: Mental fitness questioned of man charged in Chilliwack River Valley shooting

Kampos’s mental health was in question for some time having been diagnosed as schizophrenic in Kamloops years before.

His father Vaclav Kampos told The Progress back in 2018 that his son thinks the Earth is being attacked by aliens, that he can recognize those aliens in human form, and it’s his duty to eliminate them.

Crown counsel John Lester said after the fitness hearing in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster on March 15, 2019 that the treating psychiatrist determined Kampos was fit for trial, but the psychiatrist retained by Crown said he was not.

Since then, Kampos has been reassessed from time to time.

Most recently, in late September, Lester said Justice Martha Devlin found that Kampos was improving, getting closer to mental fitness enough to stand trial. The process for determining fitness under section 2 of the criminal code outlines three tests, that: the accused understands the nature of object of the proceedings; that he or she understands the possible consequences of the proceedings; or, they are able to communicate with counsel.

It is on this latter test where Kampos is still delusional, the judge found.

At any point down the road during a subsequent assessment, if Kampos deemed fit to stand trial, the trial will be started again.


Do you have something to add to this story, or something else we should report on? Email:
editor@theprogress.com

@TheProgress
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Want to support local journalism during the pandemic? Make a donation here.

22854026_web1_8871899_web1_web1_shooting
Police turned back traffic at the Borden Creek bridge in the Chilliwack River Valley on March 25, 2017 after a bizarre string of shootings culminating in an arrest of Peter Anthony Kampos. (Greg Laychak/ Black Press)