Teen shot and killed in Montreal, city’s first murder of the year

A 17-year-old teen has died after being shot Thursday night in the Plateau, becoming Montreal’s first homicide of 2022.

The victim has been identified as Amir Benayad. The Algerians of Montreal organization posting a death notice on their Facebook page, calling the teen “our young compatriot.”

The incident happened around 6:50 p.m. at the intersection of Rivard and Roy streets.

“They were yelling, ‘he’s going to die,’” said one Plateau resident, who witnessed the aftermath of the gunshots, but didn’t want to be identified.

Montreal police (SPVM) say the teen was transported to hospital while still conscious, but was in critical condition and hours later, succumbed to his injuries.

Montreal police on the scene of a Plateau shooting Jan. 13. (Credit: Marc-Antoine Ostiguy, CityNews)

“With the information that were gathered from the scene and the information we have on that victim, he doesn’t have a criminal record, he’s not known to our services, so we’re going to look into it to see if there’s any altercation that led to that, or anything in the past that could have led to those gunshots that occurred yesterday,” says Jean-Pierre Brabant, media relations officer, for the SPVM. “We’re going to look with his family, his friends, to see if there was any altercation or any element that could have gone wrong where gunshots where fired [Thursday night].”

Police adding that they are looking into some leads, “[last night], a lot of door-to-door was done on the scene. We tried to look at some surveillance cameras to get some footage, so we can have a better understanding of how it happened. For now, the only information that I have is a man that was possibly in a vehicle approached the victim and there were some gunshots that were fired.”

#WATCH: “He doesn’t have a criminal record, he’s not known to our services,” says @SPVM officer Jean-Pierre Brabant, on the 17-year-old shot dead Thursday night in the Plateau. He says a man in a vehicle may have fired the shots.

Read more: https://t.co/VGN6JBIhN2 https://t.co/BWVX02kGcz pic.twitter.com/DcakmuDOWh

— Alyssia (@rubertuccinews) January 14, 2022

According to the SPVM, one or more suspects fled the scene before officers arrived.

“We thought they were fighting first and then they just run away, and there were some people calling for help [on their phone], and [someone came] outside and he told us that he heard three gunshots,” said another Plateau resident.

The murder scene right by a park, a school and a daycare in the Plateau.

“I’ve been living here for 12 years and makes you think about leaving your house late at night and double check,” said Christina Zeraual, a resident of the area. “17-years old-you’ve got your whole life ahead of you, so its so sad that it gets cut short like that especially in such an awful way.”

“I’m a little bit stressed. We have COVID, we have all those things, and we don’t need a murder in our area,” adds Monem Sedde.

“I am sad for this young individual who came with his family to surely get an education, a job. To add value to this country, to Quebec, like hundreds of thousands of young people like him,” says Wahid Megherbi, operates Algerians in Montreal Facebook page. “I send my condolences to the family, the Algerian community, the Arab community, the Montreal community.”

In 2021, Meriem Boundaoui, 15, was hit by gunfire while sitting in a car with friends, getting a birthday cake in St-Leonard, 16-year-old Thomas Trudel was shot dead as he walked along a street in St-Michel, and Janai Dopwell-Bailey, 16, stabbed to death outside his Côte-des-Neiges school.

Montreal mayor Valérie Plante tweeting on Friday morning: “The teen killed by gunfire in the Plateau is a tragedy. My heart is with the family, his close ones, and friends of this young man. […] This type of incident has no place in Montreal.”

Le décès par balles de l’adolescent dans @LePMR est une tragédie. Je suis de tout cœur avec la famille, les proches et les amis de ce jeune homme. Le @SPVM fait enquête pour comprendre la tournure des événements. Ce genre d’incident n’a pas du tout sa place à Montréal. #polmtl

— Valérie Plante (@Val_Plante) January 14, 2022

“Another teen killed by bullets,” said opposition leader at city hall Aref Salem, head of Ensemble Montréal, in a post to his Facebook page. “One too many after Meriem Boundaoui, Hani Ouahdi, Jannai Dopwell-Bailey and Thomas Trudel; more young victims of the resurgence of armed violence and after this, we say, ‘it’s enough.’ How many victims will there have to be for the [Plante] administration to wake up.”

“I hope one day it’s going to be better, but the city they need to do something,” said a Plateau resident.

“I hope there will never be again other people killed in the area,” said Sedde.

“This person is our child,” says Megherbi, “I hope from the bottom of my heart this will stop, that we won’t hear of sad news like this again,” ends Megherbi.

Police continue to investigate.