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The man was a suspect in three fatal shootings in Montreal and Laval this week.
Author of the article:
Paul Cherry • Montreal Gazette
Publication date:
August 4, 2022 • 29 minutes ago • 6 minutes read • 11 comments Police secure the scene after a man suspected of triple homicide was shot and killed by Montreal police on August 4, 2022 Photo by Allen McInnis/Montreal Gazette
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The man who was fatally shot Thursday at a motel in the St-Laurent district as Montreal police searched for a suspect in three recent homicides was allowed to continue living outside a mental health facility in which he was released last year even though he was a psychiatrist. determined in March that he posed “a significant risk to public safety due to his mental state.”
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The murder suspect, Abdulla Shaikh, 26, had been released from the institution following a decision by an administrative court in January 2021. In March this year, the court reviewed its decision and allow Shaikh to continue to reside outside the institution.
In 2018, Shaikh was a resident of Pickering, Ontario, when he was found not criminally responsible in a case held in Montreal court where he was charged with grief.
According to a summary of his case contained in the court’s decision, Shaikh was outside Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport near the entrance when he “set fire to his Canadian passport with a candle. It was incoherent. She said the next time she was at the airport they would know. She alluded to a project, but was evasive.”
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He returned to Dorval airport a few times in the following days, as well as to Mirabel airport, and was asked to leave each time. He was charged with grief on July 19, 2018.
According to court records, Shaikh still had a case pending in Laval court where he was charged in 2016 with assault in a domestic violence case. His lawyer in the case declined to comment on what happened to Shaikh “out of respect for his family.”
SQ spokeswoman Audrey-Anne Bilodeau said the man who was shot at the motel was known to police because he had responded to calls in the past reporting he had a mental health problem.
“Montreal police answered some calls (in the past) for mental health issues related to this guy,” Bilodeau said. “So we don’t know if it’s due to a mental illness or another motivation. It is under investigation.
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“At this time, it appears that (the victims) were chosen at random by the suspect. There does not appear to be any link between them and the suspect.”
Bilodeau confirmed that the man who was shot at the motel was a suspect in all three homicides.
The first victim was killed around 21:45 at Jules-Poitras and Deguire avenues. near Roman-Zytynsky Park in St-Laurent. Officers found the body of 64-year-old André Lemieux, father of professional boxer David Lemieux. He was shot a short distance from an apartment where he lived on Blvd Jules-Poitras. and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The second victim was Mohamed Salah Belhaj, 48, killed a few kilometers northeast of the first shooting, at an intersection near St-Benoit Park in the Ahuntsic district around 10:50 p.m. He too had been shot at least once in the upper body. the body and was also pronounced dead at the scene.
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Montreal police major crimes investigators realized within hours that the shootings were related, and at 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, Laval police responding to a shots fired call found the third victim, a man in his 20s shot and killed on Clermont Blvd. in the Laval-des-Rapides district of the city.
While police released few details about how investigations into the three deaths led to Shaikh, Quebec’s Bureau of Independent Investigations (IBI) said in a statement issued Thursday morning that a SWAT team from the Montreal police executed a warrant at a motel on boulevard Marcel-Laurin. . Thursday at 7 am.
The BEI said officers at the scene were confronted by a gunman, shots were fired and the suspect was shot at least once. The 26-year-old suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.
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Montreal police secure the area around the Pierre Motel, where a suspected homicide victim was shot and killed by police on Aug. 4, 2022. Photo by Allen McInnis/Montreal Gazette
“You only go there if it’s for something shady”
Located on the main road in the St-Laurent neighborhood, Motel Pierre has been there for decades and has seen better days. The curtains are old and its parking lot, which was full of police on Thursday morning, is cracked and poorly maintained. What might have been a flower bed near the motel years ago was obviously not kept up and overgrown with weeds.
Police tape was visible in front of the motel as well as in the back of a small portion of the building.
French tourists who were staying at the Motel Pierre leave the site after a police shooting in Montreal on Thursday, August 4, 2022. Photo by Allen McInnis/Montreal Gazette
Two tourists from France were sleeping in the motel Thursday morning when they were awakened by the sound of gunshots. The two men, who asked that their names not be released, said they heard at least three shots.
A police officer helped them with their belongings as they told a reporter it was their first night in Montreal.
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“(The police) told us this doesn’t happen here all the time,” one of the men joked.
Another tourist from France left the motel late in the morning dragging a suitcase behind her. The young woman said she had left as planned and was returning to France. He said he had been to Montreal three times and wouldn’t let the drama that unfolded at the motel change his positive impression of Montreal.
Roberge Dubé, a man who said he had spent the past month at the motel, said police asked him to leave for part of the day Thursday and told him he could return hours later.
“I turned on the TV and I saw it,” Dubé said while behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang with some of his belongings packed in the garbage bag in the passenger seat. “I haven’t heard anything. I was very surprised. I went out and there were police everywhere.”
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Investigators at the scene of a police shooting in Montreal on Thursday, August 4, 2022. Photo by Allen McInnis/Montreal Gazette
Darrell Holmes, a St-Laurent resident who lives near the Motel Pierre, said he decided to take an Uber to work Wednesday night because he feared for his life after hearing media reports that victims were shooting at random, including André Lemieux, which was shot in St-Laurent.
“I’m always up to date with what’s happening in the news and what was happening in St-Laurent…you worry about these things. I was very worried. I wasn’t going to stop at a bus stop at night with what I was going through.
“If you live in St-Laurent, you know the Motel Pierre is not the best place in the world,” he said. “You only go there if it’s for something shady.
“I wasn’t surprised, I wasn’t surprised a bit. I was disappointed because St-Laurent is known to be a safe place to live. But now I’m starting to worry. I’m thinking maybe it’s time to move,” he said Holmes. “It’s not safe anymore.”
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A car believed to be the suspect’s is under surveillance near the Pierre Motel on Thursday. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette
A man who works at a car wash near the Pierre Motel said he wasn’t surprised to learn a murder suspect had been shot there.
“I’m sorry to say it, but this is really a shitty area,” said the man, who asked not to be named. “Something bad happens at this motel often. A body was taken from it months ago.”
Abdel Mefth, another St-Laurent resident who lives near the motel, said he was shocked when he woke up to find out what had happened just 400 meters from his home.
“The murders with a firearm are becoming more and more frequent. It’s really frustrating,” Mefth said. “If it really was random, just for fun, I don’t see how we can walk around town and feel safe. This motel is very old and has a bad reputation.”
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Once again, our police have demonstrated their effectiveness and dedication to the safety of Montrealers.
Thanks to the @SPVM and our partners from @policelaval and @sureteduquebec, the last 48 hours have been trying for everyone. #polmtl
— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) August 4, 2022
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante took to social media Thursday morning to thank the police forces involved in the investigations, saying: “Once again, our police have shown their efficiency and devotion for the safety of the people of Montreal.”
Plante also offered his condolences to the families…