3 arrested after multiple shots fired at downtown property connected to owner of fire-stricken Old Montreal buildings
Posted October 9, 2024 9:29 am.
Last Updated October 9, 2024 7:25 pm.
Three young people aged 17, 19 and 20 were arrested and will be interviewed by SPVM investigators after shots were fired late Tuesday near Old Montreal.
No one was injured in the shooting, which happened around 11:50 p.m. near Saint-Antoine Street and Berri Street in the Ville-Marie borough, close to Viger Square.
According to police, a small white truck was seen leaving the scene shortly after the shots were fired.
The same vehicle was then spotted by police at the corner of René-Lévesque Boulevard and Sanguinet Street.
“While the vehicle was stopped, it headed west on René-Lévesque before being caught by police at the corner of l’Hôtel-de-Ville Avenue and Boisbriand Street,” said SPVM spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant.
The three male suspects were allegedly in the truck and were arrested. Police say some of the suspects were known to them.
“A firearm was located in the vehicle in question,” added Brabant.
Police say projectile impacts were found on a building, with shell casings on the ground. The SPVM adds at least 19 shots were fired.
20-year-old Rayann Olsen Kimbatsa and 19-year-old Michel Manueli Likeng Mbappe were charged on Wednesday afternoon at the Montreal courthouse with possessing and discharging a prohibited firearm, among other things.
The 17-year-old is expected to appear in youth court at a later time.
They remain detained.
City records show the building is owned by Emile Benamor, who also owns the buildings that burned Oct. 4 on Notre Dame Street East and March 2023 at Place d’Youville in Old Montreal. A total of nine people died in those fires.
The building is also listed as Benamor’s law office with the Quebec Bar Association.
“We can confirm the event regarding the office of my (client) this morning and we will not make any comment because we don’t know … we are just waiting the result of the investigation by police,” Alexandre Bergevin, Benamor’s lawyer, told CityNews.
“We are waiting (for) the police (to) tell us who did what, and for what.”
Bergevin could not comment on the damage to the building, saying he had not yet gone inside.
“The police, they just don’t allow us to go there.”
CityNews spoke to several people on the scene they didn’t want to go on camera saying they’re shook by the incident and are feeling less safe in the neighbourhood.
“I’m not afraid to go outside, but I think in the span of one week, it’s been a lot. I’d like to know what’s going on and I hope the police can find out,” said one resident.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante says the SPVM will be sharing details of the investigation as soon as possible.
“I’m glad that yesterday (Tuesday) they were able to arrest three suspects connected to what happened in one of the Benamor office. So that is a good sign, but we want more. We want justice also for what happened, a tragedy that happened here in Old Montreal.”
Around noon Wednesday, Emile Benamor was seen leaving the perimeter nears Bonsecours and Notre-Dame E. discreetly and quickly getting into a pick-up truck.
Witnessing this was Nesrine Mohammedi, her husband and young daughter, hoping to speak to Benamor, as they were in the building the night of the fire. They returned to the site on Wednesday, hoping to retrieve some of her belongings from the hostel room they were staying in.
“We were woken up in shock. We have a little girl who is 2 years old,” she said. “I took her in my arms. We went out very quickly because there was smoke everywhere.”
Mohammedi said she left everything behind, but was told that the room they were staying in was less impacted and may be able to salvage her belongings.
“We felt the stress, because we had just arrived. All of a sudden, we were outside without clothes, without shoes, without anything. We lost money. But the priority is that we are in good health,” she added.
Plante issued a message to Montrealers who may feel police are not doing enough in the case.
“The SPVM takes this very seriously and they’ve been working, throughout the years, they’ve been adapting,” she said. “Every time there’s a change of doings, often with the criminals on the criminal scene, they’ve been adapting. So they will continue to work.
“But they’re on site, they are present and they’re doing all the work to come up to adapt to those new situations.”
-With files from La Presse Canadienne
