The 38-year-old driver who killed at least two people, in addition to seriously injuring nine others, Monday afternoon in Amqui, made a deliberate and premeditated gesture, according to the Sûreté du Québec. In the aftermath of the tragedy, the small community of Matapédia wakes up, bruised by a tragedy that affects everyone closely.
At 9 a.m., SQ Sergeant Claude Doiron confirmed the identity of the deceased: Gérald Charest, 65, and Jean Lafrenière, 73, both from Amqui. The police confirm that three people are still lying between life and death, Tuesday morning, in hospitals located outside of Amqui.
Among the nine injured are several children, all out of danger, but still hospitalized with serious injuries. Among them, a baby of a few months, mowed down by a crazy van that not only shattered lives, but the tranquility of a small town and its 6,000 inhabitants.
The man behind the wheel is Steeve Gagnon, 38, from Saint-Léon-Le-Grand, a neighboring municipality of Amqui. After his crime, he himself pushed the door of the police station to surrender and he has since collaborated with the authorities.
The man must appear at the Amqui courthouse on Tuesday afternoon to face at least two charges of murder: his gesture, assures Sergeant Doiron, seems deliberate and premeditated. There is nothing to suggest that this is an act of terrorism. “It is an isolated gesture, the accused would have acted alone”, specifies the sergeant of the SQ.
Dawn broke over Amqui on Tuesday morning, dragging a huge red sky in its wake. A few minutes before the ritual start of the school year in front of the Caron primary school, located a few blocks from the scene of the tragedy, the parents hugged their children a little harder than usual before letting them go to class.
“My children were worried, they asked me: ‘Mom, are we going to see blood on the sidewalk?’ “, says a mother who prefers to keep her name silent, since she works in the field of health. Everyone here knows the victims. Out of modesty, everyone also prefers to keep their name quiet. Bit by bit, the drama of a family takes shape: a mother, still on maternity leave, would be among the injured. His two children, including his newborn, too.
Further details will follow.