Murders a few hours apart, victims with no connection between them, an armed suspect with a “cold and determined look”: the GTI police officers were facing something unpredictable, a sort of “murderous madness”, during the triple homicide occurred in August 2022.
At least this is what emerged from the testimony of a police officer from the Tactical Intervention Group (GTI) of the Montreal City Police Service (SPVM) on the second day of the Coroner’s public inquiry aimed at establishing light on the murder of André Lemieux, Mohamed Belhaj and Alex Lévy-Crevier. They were randomly targeted by an armed man struggling with mental health issues in Montreal and Laval between August 2 and 4, 2022.
The suspect, Abdulla Shaikh, was shot dead by authorities after he barricaded himself in a hotel room in Montreal.
High risk
On August 4, 2022, the suspect was in room 139 of the Pierre Motel. The GTI breaks down the door with two hammer blows.
The situation involves a high degree of danger: the alleged shooter is suffering from psychiatric disorders – a diagnosis of schizophrenia – and the victims are chosen at random. “Street gangs, we can predict. A hitman, we can predict [qui sera la prochaine victime]. But there, the next victim could be anyone,” said police officer Mathieu Robillard, of the GTI.
Officer Robillard had the task of breaking down the door to the room where the suspect was. He noticed that the alleged murderer had a gun in his right hand and said he was surprised at how quickly he pulled out his gun.
The suspect’s look was extremely determined, as if he had a mission in mind, he said.
“In all my interventions at the SPVM I only saw a cold face two or three times who wanted to kill me,” described Mathieu Robillard, at the SPVM since 2012.
Shootings
Officer Mathieu Robillard said he sensed that the suspect would shoot soon. He sees the gunshot coming from the room, simultaneously, his colleague draws his weapon. It all happens so quickly that the sequence of gunshots is difficult to describe chronologically, the police officer said.
The suspect appears motionless, but GTI agents do not know if he was hit, according to Tuesday’s testimony.
Officer Robillard notices that the suspect is “weakened”, but his “determined” look remains the same, he added about the suspect then armed with a pistol.
“If it was a knife and he wasn’t able to get up to use it, it would be different. There he has a gun. I have to determine if he has the ability to pull the trigger and there, according to my perception, he could still do it,” he summarized.
In the heat of the moment, “it was not far-fetched” to think that an armed suspect would not pretend to be inanimate, the witness explained to coroner Géhane Kamel, head of the public inquiry.
The public inquiry continues until Wednesday, then resumes in October.