Sergeant of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) Maureen Breau did not return home after her shift on Monday evening: the mother of the family was killed on duty, while she was at a man’s to arrest him , in Louiseville, Mauricie.
The policewoman, who had just over 20 years of experience, sadly became the ninth Quebec policewoman to die in service, and the third woman in the Quebec police force.
With a colleague, Sergeant Breau went around 8:30 p.m. to the home of a 35-year-old man to arrest him, in connection with threats he apparently made. While they were reading him his rights – a normal procedure during an arrest – the man allegedly took a knife that was nearby and stabbed the policewoman, said the Bureau of Independent Investigations (BEI) , who is responsible for shedding light on what happened.
Two other police officers arrived at the scene shortly after. One of them opened fire and killed the individual. The exact circumstances of this other clash were not specified by the BEI. During this intervention, a policeman was injured, but his life is not in danger.
Mental disorders
The man who was to be arrested that evening had a criminal history, including for violent acts committed in the past. Isaac Brouillard-Lessard had also been declared not criminally responsible for his actions due to mental disorders on a few occasions and had been hospitalized.
Last year, the Mental Disorders Review Board allowed him to reside outside a psychiatric hospital, although it deemed he still posed, due to his mental state, “a significant security risk”. public “.
It was the SQ which had the painful task of announcing the death of one of its own on Tuesday morning.
Policewoman Breau was assigned to the SQ station located in Louiseville, the municipality where the police intervention took place on Monday evening. She began her career with the municipal police force in the city of Shawinigan, which lowered its flags on Tuesday. Her spouse is also a police officer with the SQ, and they have two children.
The BEI’s investigation was launched the same evening: the organization has a mandate to investigate all cases where a person other than a police officer on duty dies, sustains a serious injury or is injured by a firearm during of a police intervention or during his detention.
The Service de police de la Ville de Montréal will act as a support police force in this case and will also take care of the criminal investigation into the death of Mr.me Breau.
Six years have passed since the death of a police officer on duty in Quebec: Richer Dubuc, of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, lost his life in March 2017.
SQ director general Johanne Beausoleil said in a statement on Tuesday that she had learned “with immense sadness” of Sergeant Breau’s death. She offered condolences to her husband, children, family and co-workers.
The director added that such an ordeal was a reminder of the danger posed by the police profession in extreme situations such as the one faced by the sergeant, her fellow police officers and the emergency telecommunications workers who intervened in support.
“The police profession is increasingly challenged. It is important to support each other in this painful period, ”added the president of the Association of provincial police officers of Quebec, Jacques Painchaud.
The Minister of Public Security of Quebec, François Bonnardel, wanted to offer his condolences to the family of the sergeant from the National Assembly. “Our police officers do a job that is not easy. These men and women deserve all our respect,” he added, urging citizens to say thank you.
The SQ adds that a solemn tribute to Sergeant Maureen Breau will be paid later.
The SPVM offers its most sincere condolences to the loved ones and colleagues of Sergeant Maureen Breau who died last night on duty in tragic circumstances. Our thoughts are with you.@sureteduquebec pic.twitter.com/ODscpSdocx
— Montreal Police (@SPVM) March 28, 2023
Throughout the day, police forces from across Canada offered their condolences to the loved ones of the police officer and their support to all those affected by the loss of a colleague. Several have posted on social networks his number “11581” as a tribute.
If we include policewoman Breau, 190 Quebec police officers died on duty, according to the Commemorative Table of the National Police School of Quebec.
With The Canadian Press