A woman who frequents the Maison Benoît-Labre was reportedly stabbed by another user in the street on Tuesday evening, in the Saint-Henri district. An attack that worries the neighborhood, already worried about the proximity of the resource to a primary school.
A conflict between users of the Maison Benoît-Labre escalated around 10:30 p.m. near the resource, at the intersection of Notre-Dame and Green streets, according to officer Véronique Dubuc, spokesperson for the Montreal Police Department (SPVM).
When they arrived at the scene, the police found a 26-year-old woman stabbed in the upper body by “a sharp object”.
A 28-year-old man who also frequents the resource was arrested in the Southwest on Wednesday in connection with the assault. The suspect appeared at the Montreal courthouse the same day.
Other people were involved in the conflict, and the investigation is still ongoing, according to Véronique Dubuc. The victim’s life is not threatened, however.
Citizen concern
The news of the attack does nothing to reassure the residents of the neighborhood, who already deplore a difficult cohabitation with the users of the day center of the Maison Benoît-Labre, located a stone’s throw from the Victor-Rousselot primary school.
“I’m not surprised, but I’m fed up,” says Chantal Gagnon, who is involved in the local parents’ committee. Drug use in broad daylight, fights; the incidents continue to occur near the school, despite the establishment of a patrol of interveners and the installation of surveillance cameras around the resource, according to the mother.
It is written in the sky that something will happen to a child. But when, and which child?
Chantal Gagnon, resident of the neighborhood
Since the day centre was set up, parents have chosen to withdraw their children from the Victor-Rousselot school, according to Jean-François Gauvin, a local resident who is also involved in the parents’ committee. “We were promised that there would be changes when school started again, but it’s still the same story,” says the father.
Maison Benoît-Labre did not respond to interview requests from The Press.