‘We don’t know who shot us’: Victim of DDO shooting speaks out

A Montreal family caught in the crossfire of an intense shooting between a suspect and police in Dollard-des-Ormeaux on Montreal’s West Island on Sunday night are speaking out.

Abdel Rahman Abdallah was outside with his father Houssam, helping his parents unpack after they came home from a camping trip.

Montreal police received a 911 call at around 8 p.m. about an argument that broke out at a nearby residence — with potential gunshots heard on the corner of Salaberry and Davignon.

The 26-year-old suspect fled the scene and then allegedly tried to steal two cars and pointed a gun at Abdallah and his 54-year-old father.

“We saw the suspect running towards us with a gun, asking for the car keys. We didn’t have a chance to answer him. He turned around, saw the cops coming towards him and started shooting at them,” said Abdallah in an interview at his home on Wednesday.

Abdallah says the when the suspect fired the first shot, he ran towards the house and said he felt like something hit him.

“I got shot two centimeters away from my spine in the back and the bullet went sideways to my stomach on the side,” he said.

His mother, Sirin El Jundi, was watching from the window.

“I saw my son, 18 years old, stand up with all his back with blood. He was wearing a white T-shirt with blood on his hands,” she said.

She said her son ran to be by his father – he was laying on the ground.

“I was shouting to know, ‘Are you alive? Are you alive?” El Jundi recalled, adding that her husband didn’t respond. “My son, he was telling me, ‘go inside, please, he will shoot you.'”

Witnesses say 30 to 40 shots rang out between police and the suspect and Abdallah says it took over an hour before paramedics were able to treat them.

His father is in hospital in stable condition. He was shot in the leg five times and is scheduled to have surgery on Thursday.

“As of right now, we don’t know who shot us. So it’s like we can’t put blame on anyone until the bullets came back from to see which gun shot us,” Abdallah said.

Abdallah says police reached out about the incident, but it’s still unclear exactly what happened.

“We need justice for sure. We need to be in security,” said El Jundi.

She says she wants her son to be able to go back to school and her husband to recover. “We need to go back to our life. We’re still under shock,” she added, admitting she’s had a hard time sleeping since the incident.

Quebec’s police watchdog the BEI is investigating since the police intervention resulted in an injury of an individual.

The suspect, Nickael Hickey, appeared in court Wednesday morning via videoconference to face 15 charges including attempted murder targeting SPVM officers. He remains injured in hospital and will appear before a judge again on Friday.

Meanwhile, Abdallah says they’ve been living in the neighbourhood for 15 years and have never witnessed violence to this extent.

“Scared,” said Abdallah, describing his feelings. “Even though it happened, I still feel like I can come here and be safe. But at some point, it’s going to be time to move out from this house and start a new journey somewhere else.”