A Montreal police officer lost his life in a shootout on Monday. For nearly three hours, city residents were asked to stay indoors while authorities searched for a suspect.
According to the police, one gunman was killed at the scene. However, residents were advised to remain inside as officers continued a search for another suspect. Later, police confirmed there was only one assailant involved. “The immediate threat to the public is no longer present,” stated Montreal Police Chief Fady Dagher. “Shelter-in-place is no longer required.”
The incident occurred in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood, near a high-rise building housing commercial units like a grocery store and a restaurant. Chief Dagher mentioned officers responded to reports of a firearm seen pointing from a hotel window. Upon arrival, they were fired upon, resulting in the gunfight.
Tragically, one officer was killed, another was injured, and a civilian was also wounded. “Today, one of ours has fallen in the line of duty,” Chief Dagher said during an afternoon news conference. The city had not experienced a police officer’s death in line of duty for 24 years.
The province of Quebec issued an emergency alert around 12:30 p.m., warning residents of an armed and dangerous suspect. The public was advised to shelter away from windows and to lock their doors.
Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada expressed her condolences on social media: “My deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of the police officer who died in the line of duty.”
Mordy Aisenstark, manager of a nearby pizza restaurant, recalled hearing gunshots around 11:30 a.m. He gathered his staff and escaped through the back of the store. Later, Aisenstark saw the alleged shooter in camouflage, dead next to a firearm. Law enforcement soon arrived, and they instructed the pizza shop employees to take shelter in a bathroom.
Quebec’s Minister of Domestic Security, Ian Lafrenière, acknowledged during a news conference that all available policing resources were focused on the investigation. “For now, we don’t really know what the motive of this individual was,” he said regarding the attacker.