A man armed with a long gun opened fire Monday at a Montreal hotel, fatally shooting a police officer before police returned fire and killed him, according to authorities. A civilian also lost their life during the incident, though investigators have not yet determined who fired that fatal shot.
Police Chief Fady Dagher announced that a second officer suffered serious injuries in the attack, which took place in the city’s Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood, but said that officer is now in stable condition. The chief confirmed the gunman was killed by police at the scene.
Dagher noted that this marks the first time in 24 years that a Montreal police officer has been killed while on duty. “It’s a very, very sad day. It’s a nightmare,” he said when speaking to reporters.
According to the chief, emergency services received a call around 11:35 a.m. from someone reporting that a person was pointing a gun out of a window at the Hilton hotel. Officers responded to the location and were immediately met with gunfire. Video footage also showed the shooter had come outside the hotel at some point during the incident.
Investigators are still working to establish what motivated the attack, and Dagher said he does not yet know who fired the shot that killed the civilian.
Jacob Coutu, a construction worker at a nearby job site, said he heard “four or five gunshots” that morning. He said police began flooding the area shortly afterward, and additional shots rang out soon after.
“We saw cops getting in a gunfight, getting shot down,” Coutu said. He estimated that he heard as many as 30 to 40 gunshots in total.
Public safety officials sent out an emergency alert warning residents about an armed and dangerous suspect in the area and instructed people to shelter in place. The alert led to temporary closures on the Décarie expressway, a major highway, and caused significant portions of two subway lines to shut down temporarily.
Dagher later confirmed that the suspect had already been killed before authorities sent out the emergency alert. Officials lifted the alert shortly after 3 p.m.
