The villainous murder of an uneventful 16-year-old teenager in the middle of the street on Sunday night in Montreal created such a shock wave in his school that some students had to return home, too upset.
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“What happened to him is really unfair, launches one of her best friends, who preferred to keep her name silent. It should never have happened. He was a really good guy, I don’t understand. “
Courtesy photo
Thomas Trudel was shot dead on Sunday evening on the sidewalk of rue Villeray, in the Saint-Michel sector.
The appalling news spread like wildfire on social media Monday morning. As soon as they entered class, the majority of young people at Joseph-François-Perrault high school were aware that their classmate Thomas Trudel, whose big, frank smile was characteristic, had been shot and killed the day before.
- Listen to QMI Agency journalist Maxime Deland with Benoit Dutrizac on QUB Radio:
250 meters from home
The great sportsman, who played hockey and basketball in particular, had spent the evening with his friends in a park. The teenager was fatally shot around 9 p.m., while walking on the sidewalk bordering Villeray Street, near 20th Avenue. Everything indicates that he was returning to his home, located less than 250 meters away.
“I live three streets away from where it happened,” says Axel, a classmate of the victim. I heard about three or four rapid shots. After that, nothing more. “
Photo QMI Agency, Maxime Deland
Friends of Thomas Trudel, who were not far away, quickly came to his aid and contacted 911. Maneuvers were practiced by the paramedics, but there was already nothing more to be done to save him.
Photo QMI Agency, Thierry Laforce
Thomas Trudel was shot dead on Sunday evening on the sidewalk of rue Villeray, in the Saint-Michel sector.
During the day, Monday, psychologists were made available to students at school to support them in this traumatic ordeal, to say the least. While some needed to ventilate with the staff, others decided to end their day at home.
- Listen to the interview with Maria Mourani, criminologist, sociologist and president of Mourani-Criminologie
No prom, no CEGEP
What seems to strike young people the most in this crime is the fact that Thomas Trudel did not have bad associates or a criminal record, confirms the Montreal police force, responsible for clarifying this murder. He was a “completely normal” boy, according to his friends.
“It’s not someone who had a weird background, who walked around with thugs or thugs, says one of his friends on condition of anonymity. It’s the fact that he’s not making the ball too. We promised ourselves that we were going to CEGEP. Ultimately, it’s not going to happen. “
Photo QMI Agency, Maxime Deland
A friend of the victim came to meditate on the fence where a bullet hole was visible.
“In 30 years of career, he is one of the names that I will not be able to forget until my death. He was a little guy who had contagious vitality and joy of life, ”says Frédéric Lebel, a physical educator at the Léonard-De Vinci school who taught Thomas in the 1st and 2nd year of primary school. He was still in shock Monday night after having “taken hard” the terrible news.
Shortly after the murder, major crime investigators set up a perimeter at the scene to collect all foreseeable evidence. The scene was also scanned for possible bullet fragments.
Security camera footage from the school just in front of the crime scene and from nearby businesses were seized.
– With the collaboration of Olivier Faucher and Maxime Deland, Agence QMI