A police officer was shot dead in Montreal on Monday, marking the first time a local officer was killed in the line of duty in nearly a quarter of a century, while a civilian was also killed and another officer was injured. The male suspect was shot and killed right away, Montreal Police Chief Fady Dagher said. He is believed to have acted alone.
The shooting began around noon in a diverse part of the city, Côte-des-Neiges. A witness saw a gun sticking out of a window, heard shots, and called police, Dagher said.
“For now, we don’t really know what the motive of this individual was,” Ian Lafrenière, Quebec’s domestic security minister, said.
Becoming emotional during a press conference, Dagher told reporters: “It’s a nightmare.”
The Globe and Mail reported that following the shooting, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) sent an alert to police agencies across the country about a document that allegedly encouraged citizens to shoot police officers.
Other Canadian media reported the suspect had distributed a document expressing hatred for women and calling on citizens to target police officers. The BBC has not confirmed the existence of any reported document.
The BBC has contacted RCMP for comment. Montreal police referred questions on the matter to the Bureau of Independent Investigations, which declined to comment on the investigation.
The death of the yet-to-be-named officer, marks the first time in 24 years that a Montreal police officer was killed while on duty, he said.
The injured officer was taken to hospital.
The shooting began after 11:30 EDT (15:30 GMT) in Côte-des-Neiges, the most populated neighbourhood in Montreal.
Traffic in a nearby busy motorway was brought to a stop and local metro service was halted.
Just after 12:30 EDT, the province of Quebec issued an emergency alert warning residents of an armed suspect on the loose. The alert was lifted around 15:00 EDT as reporters were hearing from the police chief.
Police believe the suspect used a long-range gun.
Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said that he was “horrified” when he learned of the shooting.
“My thoughts are with the victims, their loved ones, the first responders, and the entire community of Côte‑des‑Neiges. My gratitude is with our courageous police officers whose heroic dedication protects our communities,” he wrote on social media.
“My deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of the police officer who died in the line of duty,” Soraya Martinez Ferrada, the mayor of Montreal, said in a social media post.
Quebec Premier Christine Fréchette echoed those sentiments in a social media post adding that “such acts have no place here”.
By BBC News
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