Armed to the teeth, four young men fired nearly 80 bullets at random at passersby, shattering the lives of some of them. On Tuesday, a judge called their actions the “equivalent of terrorist acts” that were gratuitous and incomprehensible.
Josué Agnant, Dardy Lavaud, Emmanuel Bruno and Robby Valère pleaded guilty to several charges Tuesday, including discharging a firearm and possession of a weapon. They were sentenced to 11, 12, 8 and 10 years in prison, respectively, a joint suggestion of the parties ratified by Superior Court Judge Marc David.
The four men in their early twenties targeted randomly selected citizens for no reason.
On August 10, 2022, Carmen* simply went to a meeting with two friends in a parking lot on Pierre-Bonne Street in Rivière-des-Prairies. She was closely followed by a vehicle. Suddenly, three projectiles smashed her windshield. There was panic and incomprehension.
A similar shooting occurs the next day in the same area. Denis*, an ordinary citizen, is taking his break at work. Sabrina*, a young woman, is in a vehicle with her brother in a parking lot. Their lives are turned upside down when four armed men open fire.
Denis begged them not to shoot and then heard several more shots, according to the joint statement of facts filed in court. The bullets narrowly missed him. Sabrina was hit, but she survived.
This time, the shooters did not escape. They tried to flee by car, but caused an accident during the police chase. They were finally arrested the same day.
Dardy Lavaud is the only one of the quartet to have pleaded guilty in both events. His three accomplices admitted their guilt for the shooting of August 11.
Victims marked for life
Sabrina’s life, injured by gunfire two years ago, will never be the same again. Her attackers have stolen her peace of mind.
“The men shot at my old life. These individuals stole it from me,” the young woman told the court on Wednesday morning.
Harsh prison sentences don’t erase the after-effects, Sabrina said. “No matter the sentence, the physical and mental pain and the flashbacks will always be there.”
She saw herself lying on the ground with her left arm bleeding. “I feel like I’m not living my life anymore. I’ve lost control of my life,” she said.
Insomnia and anxiety frequently take her back to that fateful evening. Even to this day, she thinks about her assailant. “I open my eyes, he is a few steps away from me, ready to finish his work.”
Judge David praised his testimony as “very dignified.” “We can normally put things in boxes. Here, it is difficult to classify this event. We do not want a society where this happens again. It is the equivalent of a terrorist act,” the magistrate said.
“Four young adult men picking up modified rifles is an affront to society, to the police and to all people.”, summarized Sabrina’s brother, who was dropping his sister off at the wheel of his car on August 11, 2022. His vehicle was riddled with bullets within minutes, he explained to the court.
Never seen before in Montreal
Authorities recovered 31 shell casings after the first incident, then 49 shell casings during the second. We are talking about 80 bullets fired in 24 hours.
The episode of violence had worried the authorities at the time, while gunshots regularly made headlines. These two shootings had marked the imagination.
“Eighty bullets is the possibility of having eighty dead,” said Commander Francis Renaud, of the Organized Crime Division of the Montreal Police Service (SPVM), in an article in The Press.
Known to the authorities
Text message conversations were discovered by authorities, the summary of facts states. Dardy Lavaud was sending messages to the group of friends. “He wanted to go shoot people: he indicated that he would provide weapons if needed,” the document summarizes. He was also wearing a bulletproof vest during the attack.
Investigators also found videos and photos of the seized weapons.
Dardy Lavaud, nicknamed Baby Savage, is well known to police and street gang circles, according to our sources. The young man is said to be part of a Montreal North criminal group called Pop Team, just like Josué Agnant and Emmanuel Bruno. This clique has reportedly been linked to gun violence in Montreal several times by authorities.
Robby Valère is not considered a gang member by the authorities, according to our information.
This information – and the street gang allegiances – was not addressed or admitted in this case, however.
Me Mathieu Farazandeh defended Josué Agnant, Me Richard Tawil represented Robby Valère, Me Vicky Powell and Me Alexandra Longueville represented Dardy Lavaud, and Me Charles Monpetit represented Emmanuel Bruno.
Crown Prosecutor Me Laurent-Alexandre Duclos-Bélanger was leading the case.
*Fictitious first names