Two days of fear and bloodshed in Montreal ended with a police shooting early Thursday morning after officers stormed a suburban motel room and killed the man suspected of randomly killing three people. Abdulla Shaikh, 26, who police believe was responsible for the shooting deaths in Montreal and Laval on Tuesday and Wednesday, was pronounced dead at the scene after police raided the Motel Pierre in the Saint-Laurent district around 7 in the morning. The man was holding a firearm when police entered his room with a warrant and was hit with at least one bullet, according to Guy Lapointe, a spokesman for the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI), which investigates police-related injuries and deaths. Quebec shootings. Among the victims were a hospital worker, a young skateboarder and the father of a well-known boxer. It appears that Mr. Shaikh had nothing to do with his alleged victims and that he chose them at random, said Sergeant Audrey-Anne Bilodeau, a spokeswoman for the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), which is handling the other three death investigations from Montreal . police. He is believed to have acted alone, with no links to organized crime and has a history of being the subject of police interventions related to mental health incidents, it added. Quebec to announce crime prevention funding as Montreal police investigate shooting The provincial police force declined to say what type of weapon Mr Shaikh used or how he obtained it, citing their investigation. At the time of the shooting, Mr. Shaikh was facing pending assault, sexual assault and criminal harassment charges dating back to 2016. In 2015, he was charged with causing a public disturbance, criminal harassment and disorderly conduct. These charges appear to have been withdrawn following a COVID-19 postponement. Overlapping non-compliance charges were also removed. In 2018, he was charged with disorderly conduct. After a psychological examination, he was found not criminally responsible. The killings this week began at a bus shelter on Tuesday night when Mr Shaikh allegedly shot André Fernand Lemieux, 64, the father of professional boxer David Lemieux. “It’s an incomprehensible and senseless act that has been committed and now it’s up to the police to do their investigation to try to understand,” Andréanne Lambert, communications coordinator for Eye of the Tiger management (representing David Lemieux). , he said in an e-mail. A little more than an hour later, in a nearby neighborhood, police believe Mr. Sheikh shot and killed Mohamed Salah Belhaj, 48, an intervention officer at a local mental health hospital. A third man was killed in the neighboring city of Laval, apparently by accident, at around 9.30pm on Wednesday. Witnesses said the 22-year-old victim, Alexis Levis-Crevier, was riding a skateboard at the time of the shooting. Laval resident Saed Reyad was sitting outside his home with his son when he heard gunshots, but didn’t realize how close it was until he saw sparks in the air. His wife later said she saw the shooter reach for his gun. Mr Reyad also saw the man shoot into the air and then heard tires screeching. The body lay in the street for hours, surrounded by a pool of blood. The fact that the killer was targeting people at random made Mr. Rejand’s violence feel all the more disturbing. “I was shaking – my heart was pounding,” she said. “It could be us.” At the Motel Pierre on Thursday, flanked by a shopping mall and a mosque along a major boulevard in a remote Montreal neighborhood, police taped off the site of the BEI investigation. Mr. Lapointe, the spokesman, said he did not know whether Mr. Shaikh opened fire before he was shot during the raid, but said the suspect was holding a firearm when officers entered the room. Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante congratulated police in a statement on Twitter Thursday, writing that “the last 48 hours have been an effort for everyone.” “Once again, the police are showing us their efficiency and dedication to the safety of the people of Montreal,” he said. Also Thursday, the federal government announced $41.8 million in funding to the Quebec government to prevent gun and gang violence. In a press release, the mayor called it “a strong signal of the commitment of both levels of government to support efforts in our metropolis to prevent gun violence.” “We hope that the funds available in Montreal will allow us to strengthen our capacity, the capacity of the SPVM [Montreal police]and the ability of community organizations to support young people by providing them with stimulating and safe environments that keep them away from violence,” he added. The spate of shootings by an apparently mentally ill man with a long criminal record points to the failure of governments to properly support people with mental illness, said Ted Rutland, an associate professor of geography, planning and the environment at Concordia University. “If you look at the circumstances of that person’s life and the multiple opportunities to provide that person with support to live a better life and not harm other people, it’s a failure,” he said. “We’re overfunding the police and massively underfunding all the other things we need to protect each other.” With a report by The Canadian Press The Morning Update and Afternoon Update newsletters are written by Globe editors, giving you a concise summary of the day’s most important headlines. Sign up today.
