Second suspect arrested ‘directly implicated’ in Meriem Boundaoui’s murder: police

Montreal police arrested five additional suspects Wednesday in connection with the drive-by shooting of 15-year-old Meriem Boundaoui last year.

BACKGROUND: Community mourns teenage girl killed in drive-by shooting

Police say one of those five was a suspect “directly implicated” in the teenager’s murder. The 27-year-old was arrested Wednesday morning and has yet to be charged in court.

The new arrests are on top of the 26-year-old who was charged with first-degree murder and four counts of attempted murder on Monday. That suspect was also “directly implicated.”

Police say the other suspects were arrested in connection with drug trafficking and assault.

The SPVM says seven addresses were searched as part of the more than year-long investigation since Boundaoui was killed in St-Leonard on Feb. 7, 2021.

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Boundaoui was with another person inside a stopped car when a second car drove up and someone opened fire. She and a 21-year-old man who was on the sidewalk were hit by bullets, and she was later declared dead.

Cmdr. Salvatore Serrao of the Montreal police said earlier this week that Boundaoui had “nothing to do with the conflict” that erupted and was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Shooting between two groups

At a press conference Wednesday to reveal the additional arrests, the SPVM’s Paul Verreault said the shooting was between two opposing groups.

“There was a conflict between two groups and the people arrested today are in the same group,” said Verreault, the force’s major crimes commander. “And the conflict escalated until the sad event that happened on Feb. 7, 2021.”

Verreault acknowledged the investigation has been lengthy but he says police have been communicating with Boundaoui’s family as they search for answers.

“The message I can give to the family is do not despair,” he said. “We keep a constant communication with the families. We want them to know that there is still hope. Investigations, even if it’s complicated, even if it’s two years later, we’ll work hard to solve the crime and to help the families through the crisis that they have to pass through.”

Verreault says there remains a lot of information still under analysis with the investigative team.

The SPVM’s Paul Verreault speaks at a press conference on June 29, 2022 alongside Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante. (Credit: CityNews/Martin Daigle)

Plante praises SPVM investigation

Mayor Valérie Plante, who was also at Wednesday’s news conference, said she was grateful and impressed with the SPVM’s investigation.

“Meriem Boundaoui was an innocent victim, and yes there is more cases of violence with handguns and guns, so she was the first,” said Plante. “She is a young woman who was at the wrong place at the wrong time for sure.

#WATCH: Two days after announcing a first arrest in the February 2021 drive-by shooting death of 15-year-old Meriem Boundaoui, Montreal police have another man in custody.

"Meriem Boundaoui was an innocent victim," said Mayor Plante.

READ MORE: https://t.co/bsFJCeTZsk pic.twitter.com/iCaEjX1dLF

— CityNews Montreal (@CityNewsMTL) June 29, 2022

“And today my message is to say thank you to the SPVM and to encourage them to continue to their amazing work to protect every citizen.”

Boundaoui was the first of several young people to die violently in the past year and a half in Montreal, prompting widespread concern and calls to do more to reduce gun violence in the city.

—With files from The Canadian Press.