Death of police officer Maureen Breau | “I didn’t know if I was going to die,” says a police officer

(Montreal) Despite numerous histories of assault, a history of mental disorder and calls for help from Isaac Brouillard Lessard’s family, nothing suggested that he was going to attack Sergeant Maureen Breau , killed on duty during an operation last year in Louiseville, said a police officer who was himself injured during the event.

On March 27, 2023, Isaac Brouillard Lessard seriously injured a patrol officer and fatally stabbed Sergeant Maureen Breau before being shot and killed by police in his building.

Agent William Berrouard of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), attacked with a knife by the suspect, revisited this painful memory during his testimony for the coroner’s inquest into the death of the policewoman and the suspect which continued Wednesday in Trois-Rivières.

He only had one or two seconds to react at the moment of the tragedy. “I didn’t know if I was going to die. I would have had a hundred lessons on this, but [le terrain]when it really happens to you, it happens too quickly,” he described in audience.

William Berrouard and three of his colleagues – including Sergeant Maureen Breau – were instructed that day to arrest Isaac Brouillard Lessard for death threats against a member of his family in the preceding days.

The 35-year-old man looks angry when Officer Berrouard knocks on his door. The suspect is alone in his tiny, messy apartment, where there is a strong smell of cannabis. He barely has time to mention his right to silence when the suspect starts shouting that he is schizophrenic and attacks the police officer with a knife. The agent steps back, covered in blood.

He uses a mattress found on the ground as a shield. The injured patrolman hears gunshots, but sees nothing of what is happening. He doesn’t yet know that Maureen Breau heard him scream and decided to intervene. He was unaware at the time that she had been stabbed by the suspect. The latter is shot dead by two of the four police officers present due to the imminent danger.

Sergeant Breau loses blood, struggles to stand, and Agent Berrouard is in shock. However, the ambulances arrived quietly without flashing lights.

Officer Berrouard was aware of Isaac Brouillard Lessard’s extensive history of assault and temperament, but knew nothing of his mood when he went to his house to arrest him, he told M^e Géhane Kamel, coroner who chairs the investigation.

He had already dealt with Mr. Brouillard Lessard, a man alone, isolated and who had no friends, according to his testimony.

Nothing suggested a crisis on his part on the day of the tragedy, he stressed to M^e Kamel.

Officer Frédérique Poitras, who helped Maureen Breau leave the building, admitted Wednesday to having faced numerous calls where mental health was at the heart of the problem in her career. There was often something at stake, but no obvious threat. “We can see that things are not going well, but there is no imminent danger. We must go to the moment when there is a criminal act in order to act. Why don’t we have more power? », she asked herself.

Intervention three days before the tragedy

SQ agents, including agent William Berrouard, had already intervened with Isaac Brouillard Lessard on March 24, 2023, a few days before the tragedy. The suspect’s father contacted authorities because he was worried about his son, who was subject to psychotic episodes. Two days earlier, the suspect had argued with his psychiatrist.

The latter was calm and did not stand out from the majority of people arrested by the police officer in his career, the patrol officer recalled. He had also noticed a Japanese sword in Mr. Brouillard Lessard’s home.

“I had no fear that he could threaten the safety of others or his own immediately,” continued Officer Berrouard.

According to him, there was nothing to apply law P-38, which made it possible to impose the hospitalization of a patient who does not want to be treated if he presents an imminent danger to himself or to other people. “We could not arrest him without a criminal offense,” said William Berrouard.

An 811 call in limbo?

Communication between the health system and the police force is deficient, admits the young police officer.

The coroner M^e Géhane Kamel, however, took it back. “If you had called the psychiatrist, you would have known that on March 22, he was not well. »

Worried, Isaac Brouillard Lessard’s father called Info-Santé to inform him that his son was in psychosis. He wanted him to be hospitalized.

“It would make our interventions much easier if we had a communication channel with 811. We do our business on our own, they do their business on our own,” explained Agent Berrouard.

It is not a common practice for police officers to communicate with 811 or hospitals, explained agent Constant Perreault, one of the two police officers who fired at Isaac Brouillard Lessard during the intervention. “We often get turned around, because it’s professional secrecy. »

The police officers were unaware at the time of intervening with Mr. Brouillard Lessard that they were therefore entitled to arrest him in the event of non-compliance with the conditions since he was under an order from the Commission for the Examination of Mental Disorders (CETM). ).

M^e Kamel clarified Wednesday that she was not making reproaches, but was seeking to make recommendations to prevent a misfortune from happening again. “Since the start of this investigation, no one has spoken to each other. 811 does not speak to the police, the police do not speak to 811. Everyone works alone,” said the coroner.