24-hour killing spree ends with Montreal police shooting 26-year-old murder suspect dead

A 26-year-old man who was shot and killed by Montreal police Thursday morning is believed to be the suspect responsible for three deadly shootings in the city within a 24-hour period.

The man was shot by police in the parking lot of a motel in Montreal’s Saint-Laurent borough Thursday morning.

Manuel Couture, a Montreal police spokesman, says the suspect was shot during a police operation at a motel on Marcel-Laurin Blvd. in the St-Laurent borough. Police say he is considered a “murder suspect.”

The man killed by police Thursday morning is suspected of being the one responsible for three deadly shootings that took place in Montreal in just over a 24-hour period.

The 26-year-old man suspected of randomly shooting dead three people in the street on Tuesday and Wednesday didn’t appear to have any links to the three victims, provincial police spokeswoman Sgt. Audrey-Anne Bilodeau told reporters. Investigators believe he acted alone and didn’t have links to organized crime, she added.

Speaking at the scene Thursday, Bilodeau said the suspect had previously been visited by Montreal police for mental health-related interventions.

“We’re trying to establish the motivations of this man,” Bilodeau said, adding that it isn’t clear if he intended to kill again.

Scene where police shot and killed a suspect believed to be responsible for multiple shootings around Montreal. (Photo Credit: Martin Daigle, CityNews)

A 24-hour killing spree

Laval police said a man was shot dead on Clermont Boulevard around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

The killing came one night after two men were gunned down in two separate shootings on the Island of Montreal that were just 65-minutes apart. Police had reason to believe at the time that the same shooter is responsible for the two shootings.

In all three cases, the victims are men who appear to have been chosen at random and who were shot in the head. Each time, the victims were shot at close range and the murders were committed on public roads.

One of the victims, André Lemieux, the 64-year-old father of professional boxer David Lemieux, was fatally shot around 9:45 p.m. Tuesday near the intersection of Jules-Poitras and Deguire boulevards.

RELATED: Boxer David Lemieux’s father among shooting deaths in Montreal Tuesday night

At 10:50 p.m. that same evening, Mohamed Salah Belhaj, 48, was shot and killed near the corner of the intersection of Sauvé Ouest and Meilleur streets.

Police watchdog investigating

Quebec’s independent police watchdog is investigating. At the request of the watchdog, the three homicide investigations in Montreal and Laval, Que., a suburb north of the city, have been transferred to Quebec provincial police.

The watchdog, also known as the BEI, said the Montreal police tactical unit was at a motel around 7 a.m. for a search linked to an investigation into three recent homicides in Montreal and Laval.

The watchdog said preliminary information is that Montreal officers were confronted by a suspect with a firearm. It said shots were fired and the man was struck by at least one bullet and pronounced dead at the scene.

The BEI, which investigates when someone is injured or killed during a police operation, said seven investigators are assigned to the case.

The police operation came after a pair of killings about 65 minutes apart and just a few kilometres from each other on Tuesday evening in Montreal, in the St-Laurent and Ahuntsic-Cartierville boroughs. One of the Montreal victims on Tuesday evening was identified as Andre Fernand Lemieux, 64, the father of Canadian professional boxer David Lemieux. The other victim was Mohamed Salah Belhaj, 48, an intervention officer at a local mental health hospital.

A senior Montreal police spokesman said Wednesday that investigators were certain a single suspect was behind both killings and that they were waiting on ballistics evidence to confirm it.

Beshara said Laval police were present at the motel in Montreal on Thursday where the suspect was killed. They haven’t ruled out that the homicide on their territory was also a random attack.

Reaction to the shootings

Some residents nearby the motel Thursday, live not far from one of the shooting locations on Tuesday.

“It really affected us because we live right in front of that bus shed and we usually go out on walks. My family and I have three small kids. There’s a park nearby. We go out, we walk the dog, we play basketball. We go for four nights stroll. And after that evening, we do not feel safe,” explained Joshua Devilla, a Saint-Laurent resident.

“The call to action is what is our government going to be doing or the, uh, the police department too, to better keep us, you know, and safety and, and keep us reassured that it is safe to be in Montreal to go for a walk to.”

Daryl Holmes, a resident of the St-Laurent borough – where the first killing took place in a bus shelter and where the suspect was taken down at Motel Pierre – said Thursday the brazen violence in the neighbourhood has him shaken.

“I am a bit worried. I take the bus; I work (at night), and yesterday when I heard the news, I said to myself that there is no way that I will take the bus in the area,” said Holmes, who opted for an Uber.

Holmes said that even if he’s reassured that a suspect was found, he is considering leaving the neighbourhood where he has lived all his life.

“It’s not a safe place anymore,” Holmes said, explaining that in his youth, children could leave their bikes unattended outside without fearing that they would be stolen.

“Now you can’t even open the door because you never know what’s going to happen,” he said.

On Thursday, Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante thanked Montreal, Laval and provincial police for their “efficiency and dedication towards the safety of Montrealers.”

“The last 48 hours have been trying for everyone,” she wrote in a series of tweets. “It is during these moments that we must all work together and trust our authorities in a common goal of ensuring the safety of our population.”

The last 48 hours have been trying for everyone. It is during these moments that we must all work together and trust our authorities in a common goal of ensuring the safety of our population.

“I hope that the city and the. The government is doing everything they can to minimize this gun violence that is new in the city, whether it’s the old port or it’s different. Part of that is it’s new concern. And we don’t want to live in a city like that,” said Jean-François Truchon, a Saint-Laurent resident.

The police investigation is ongoing and CityNews will update when more information becomes available.

-With files from the Canadian Press