MONTREAL: A midday shooting in Montreal killed three people on Monday, including a police officer, a civilian and the alleged gunman, triggering rare levels of shock across the Canadian city.
The bloodshed occurred in a partly Jewish neighbourhood that includes kosher markets and restaurants, but police declined to comment on what the motive might have been and whether the incident amounted to a hate crime or an act of terror.
French-language public broadcaster Radio Canada said the shooter was connected to “incel” ideology — a misogynistic worldview that fuelled the man responsible for one of Canada’s most deadly mass killings, a 2018 vehicle-ramming in Toronto that killed 10.
Incel means “involuntarily celibate”, and is linked to heterosexual men driven to extremism over their apparent inability to find female partners.
Montreal police chief Fady Dagher said Monday’s incident was “a tragedy, a nightmare”.
Explosions of gun violence in broad daylight are not nearly as common in Canada as they are across the border in the United States, but they are not unheard of. A shooting like this in Montreal is rare.
Dagher said police received a call about an active shooting in Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood at around 11:30 am (1530 GMT).
Police responded and a shootout ensued, with the assailant firing from inside a building with a long gun, Dagher told reporters at the scene.
Frank Vogas told AFP he was buying paint at a shop in the area when the gunfire erupted.
“I see the police storm in, come in from everywhere, and they raise their guns,” the 71-year-old said, explaining that officers told people in the shop to keep low to the floor.
Côte-des-Neiges resident Danny Wilk told AFP that he witnessed the violence unfold.
“I was on the street near my home when I heard one shot, then several more,” he said, adding: “I tried to take shelter in the nearby pizzeria, and that’s when I saw the shooter, who looked ready to fire his weapon, dressed in military clothing.”
Wilk said he saw the slain officer, dead on the ground, before the shooter was taken down by police.
Dagher confirmed one male officer was shot dead, and another female officer was seriously wounded but her life is not in danger. He confirmed the gunman was dressed in what appeared to be military-style clothing.
The details surrounding the slain civilian are not yet known.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was “horrified” by the violence.
Avoid speculation
The location of the shooting raised immediate speculation online that it was another incident of antisemitic violence in Canada, a country that has seen an enormous increase in reported crimes targeting Jews since Israel launched its operation in Gaza following the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas in Israel and Gaza.
The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), a prominent Canadian civil society group, said it was “closely monitoring the situation.”
Dagher stressed the investigation had not yet produced any indications as to motive.
“It’s important to be very careful of rumours,” he said.
Gezy Markowitz, a rabbi who works in the area, said the shooting took place in a community with multiple Jewish institutions, including educational centres and a food bank.
“People are asking me if it’s an attack on the Jewish community. I think it would just be completely irresponsible even to speak to that at this point, because (all) we know, it was an attack right now on the police,” he said.
Quebec Premier Christine Frechette said she was “deeply shaken by the tragic events,” while urging people to “avoid speculation” about what transpired.
The area had initially been locked down but officers were leaving the scene on Monday afternoon, and traffic was starting to resume.
