Two people, a resident and a police officer, were killed and an assailant, with unknown motives, was killed by the police on Monday June 22 in Montreal during a shooting. The events took place at midday in a neighborhood of Montreal where there are many Jewish businesses and restaurants, but the authorities have not explained their circumstances or mentioned a possible motive.
But according to public broadcaster Radio-Canada, the shooter had previously left behind an “incel” manifesto, this masculinist movement made up of single men who claim to be rejected by women, whom they consider responsible for their celibacy.
In 2018, a man claiming to be part of this movement killed 11 people, mostly women, during an attack in Toronto.
On Monday, the only suspect was killed, explained during a press conference the chief of the Montreal police (SPVM), Fady Dagher, who reported an exchange of gunfire between the police and the assailant.
The resident killed was Michael Moshe Mizrahi, “a beloved member of the Montreal Jewish community,” said the Canadian Advisory Center for Jewish and Israeli Relations (CIJA) on social media, which deplored an “innocent victim.” »
The killed agent was identified by Montreal police as Mohamed Lamine Benredouane, 34 years old. A police officer was also injured but her life is not in danger.
Security perimeter
The Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, declared himself on
The shootings took place “in the heart of the Jewish community,” Getzel Markowitz, a local rabbi, told AFP on the spot, mentioning “many associations (…), educational centers, food banks and Jewish establishments. “But I want to say that this is not really seen as an attack on the Jewish community, although we wonder why it is this area” that was targeted, he added.
“For the moment, we don’t know the motive behind all this,” Ian Lafrenière, Quebec’s minister of internal security, told Radio-Canada shortly after the shootings were announced. Christine Fréchette, Premier of Quebec, assured that it was “essential to let the authorities do their work” and that it was necessary to “avoid any speculation”.
The police explained that they were notified by telephone by a witness who reported the presence of a person using a rifle.
A major police force was put in place shortly before midday, residents were asked to stay at home and the nearby urban highway was closed to traffic. The perimeter was declared secure a little more than three hours later, according to police.
The mayor of Montreal, Soraya Martinez Ferrada, sent her “most sincere condolences to the family, loved ones and colleagues of the police officer who died on duty”. According to Fady Dagher, the last death on duty of a police officer in Canada’s second largest city dates back to 2002.
