(NCS) — The tranquil normalcy of a residential neighborhood in the Canadian metropolis of Montreal was shattered Monday morning after a gunman opened hearth, prompting a shootout with police that killed no less than two individuals, despatched households operating for canopy and paralyzed the town for hours.
The brazen daylight shooting, which regulation enforcement sources consider was a focused assault on police, marks the primary time a Montreal officer has been killed in the road of responsibility in 20 years.
The rash of gunshots shocked residents of the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood, who remained below an hourslong order to take shelter and lock their doorways as authorities investigated an “armed and dangerous suspect.” The suspect was later confirmed to have been killed.
Police are inspecting a so-called manifesto that runs over 100 pages they consider might have been written by the gunman. It reportedly espouses incel ideology, in accordance to regulation enforcement sources. Incel is short for “involuntary celibate” and its misogynistic ideology has been tied to a number of violent assaults in current years.
The Montreal Police Service recognized the fallen officer as Mohamed Lamine Benredouane, 34, who had been a police officer with the division since 2021. It’s the primary deadly shooting of an officer in the town in 24 years, Quebec Domestic Security Minister Ian Lafrenière stated.
The different sufferer was recognized as Michel Mizrahi, an Israeli citizen, in accordance to the Israeli Consulate in Montreal. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs stated Mizrahi was a beloved member of Montreal’s Jewish group.
Authorities haven’t but recognized the gunman, who police consider acted alone.
A second officer was transported to the hospital in vital situation, however she is now steady, Montreal Police Chief Fady Dagher stated at a information convention. One civilian sustained minor accidents, he stated.
“It appeared to be an ambush,” a Canadian regulation enforcement supply stated.
Residents run for canopy as photographs rang out
Less than 5 miles from the skyscrapers and frenzied metropolis of downtown Montreal, Côte-des-Neiges is a quieter, trendy residential bubble. The borough is numerous, with pockets outlined deeply by Jewish tradition, establishments and each day life.
Brandon Benchimel-Elkaim, a resident of a close by apartment constructing, stated he noticed panicked households at a native playground run for canopy after he heard the primary spherical of gunshots ring out round 11:15 a.m. ET, NCS newsgathering accomplice CBC News reported.
“I saw parents ripping their kids off of the play structure. They were running for their life,” he stated.
Benchimel-Elkaim stated a second spherical of shooting got here shortly after, adopted by a massive police presence, CBC reported.
Police had been responding to a 911 name of gunshots and a gun protruding of a window round 11:35 a.m. on Décarie Boulevard when officers got here below hearth in the road, Dagher, the police chief stated.
More than two dozen gunshots could be heard in one video of the incident posted to social media and verified by NCS.
A squad of regulation enforcement officers staged on the entrance of a constructing earlier than one officer kicked by way of the glass door, making room for the group to get inside. Several different officers, armed with rifles and a K9 unit, adopted shut behind.
A protracted gun utilized by the suspect was seized on the scene, Dagher stated.
Heidi Doctor was taking a work name after dropping off her little one for a haircut when an officer pulled up in entrance of her and pulled out their gun, she informed CTV News, a NCS newsgathering accomplice.
“All of a sudden cops come swarming,” Doctor stated. Her different little one had arrived to the hair salon simply minutes earlier than the mayhem started.
Doctor tried to keep in her parking spot, however she ultimately had to get out of the best way and pull onto a close by aspect road, she informed CTV. She waited for hours, speaking together with her children by cellphone, as they hid in the again of the salon.
Graphic movies of the violence, which occurred subsequent to pedestrians and busy lanes of visitors, shortly started circulating on-line, as social media customers started to speculate about what occurred.
Lafrenière, the Domestic Security minister, requested individuals not to flow into graphic movies of the deadly shooting. He famous he has seen movies exhibiting what seems to be a police officer shooting a civilian, noting the incident is being investigated by Quebec’s police watchdog.
Incel ideology tied to previous assaults
Incel ideology has been linked to different mass killings in Canada, together with the 2018 Toronto van attack, when a perpetrator who recognized as an incel drove down a crowded sidewalk and intentionally killed 10 individuals.
In 2020, a teenage boy stabbed two feminine workers at a therapeutic massage parlor, killing one, in what was later categorised by a choose as an act of terrorism — the primary incel-motivated crime to be designated a terror offense in Canada.
Montreal was additionally the positioning of the worst college shooting in Canada’s historical past — referred to as the Montreal bloodbath — which occurred on December 6, 1989, when in a misogyny-fueled rampage, a gunman murdered 14 ladies at École Polytechnique whereas screaming “You are all feminists.”
Deadly gun violence is a far much less frequent incidence in Canada than in the US, in accordance to statistics.
In 2023, 38% of homicides in Canada concerned a firearm, whereas 76% of homicides in the US had been firearm-related, in accordance to an evaluation by Canada’s national statistics body utilizing police-reported knowledge from the Uniform Crime Reporting applications in each international locations.
Gun possession in Canada can be far much less frequent than in the US. According to the Small Arms Research project, there are 121 firearms for each 100 residents in the US in contrast to an estimated 35 weapons per 100 residents in Canada.
Responding to Monday’s assault, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stated he was “horrified to learn that a police officer and a civilian have been killed and others injured in a shooting in Montréal today.”
“My thoughts are with the victims, their loved ones, the first responders, and the entire community of Côte‑des‑Neiges,” Carney stated in a publish to X. “My gratitude is with our courageous police officers whose heroic dedication protects our communities.”
Premier of Quebec Christine Fréchette stated she’s requested the president of the National Assembly to decrease the Quebec flag to half-staff.
“I would like to thank the police officers, first responders, emergency personnel, and all those working on the ground,” Fréchette stated. “In the face of this ordeal, we will remain united, supportive, and determined to stand by all those affected.”
This story has been up to date with further data.
The-NCS-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
NCS’s Sarah Hutter and Taylor Romine contributed to this report.
(*2*)