Montreal police arrest man after alleged stabbing, discover dead body in St-Leonard home

Montreal police (SPVM) discovered a dead body inside a home in Saint-Leonard on Monday, after they made their way in to arrest a suspect they were seeking in a stabbing case.

The man, a 54-year-old allegedly said to have been in a state of crisis, barricaded himself in the home for about six hours.

Police had been called at around 4:45 a.m., about an armed assault in a residence on Belherbe Street, near Lacordaire Blvd.

When officers arrived on the scene, they found a 57-year-old man outside with injuries to his upper body — caused by a sharp object.

The victim was initially transported to hospital in critical condition — but his health status was later updated and he is out of danger.

Police had told CityNews that they believed other victims were possible.

“With more information that we got there’s possibly more people inside the residence,” said SPVM spokesperson, Mariane Allaire Morin earlier on Monday. “That’s why the S.W.A.T team was asked on site with the medical tactical group from Urgences-santé.”

“Right now there’s a major operation ongoing,” she added.

As of 9 a.m., a perimeter was still in place as the suspect remained inside the residence.

It was around 12 p.m. that police arrested the man and he was transported to hospital — but will be questioned by police to fully understand his involvement in this case.

That’s when the SPVM also confirmed that a body of another man was found in the residence — reportedly also stabbed — his identity is not yet known.

“Following the major operation that occurred for several hours this morning, the result is that there was a man arrested, a man in his 50s, and he was brought to detention center where we will have to determine his involvement in this event,” said Morin. “Also, in the intervention, we found a man, a body in the residence.”

“At this point, we still don’t know his identity, but we know that it’s a man, and we will have to see what’s the link between all of them, how everything happened,” she added.

“We know that it’s a conflict that escalated, but what’s the reason, what’s the link between all of them? So there’s still a lot of, the investigation is ongoing,” Morin told CityNews. “There’s a lot of things to do at this point.”

This is the sixth murder on Montreal Police territory this year.

The 54-year-old suspect is set to appear in court via video conference on Tuesday morning.

An investigation is ongoing.