The young people who died in an accident after shooting two motorists yesterday in Montreal were aged just 16 and 14, and one of them appeared on social networks linked to a violent street gang in Saint- Leonard involved in the increase in shootings last year.
Around 5 a.m. Thursday, a 41-year-old man who was leaving for work was shot in the shoulder while he was in his car in Rosemont–Petite-Patrie. Several shots were then fired from a moving vehicle, driven by a 16-year-old boy, according to our information.
A few minutes later, 5 kilometers away, a second motorist was targeted, in Plateau-Mont-Royal. Luckily, the 58-year-old man was not injured.
While trying to escape the police, the suspects who were riding at full speed on the cycle path on rue Saint-Zotique violently collided with a tree. The young driver and his passenger, aged just 14, both died.
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The firearm used in the attempted murders was found in the crashed SUV, we learned.
Violent gang
On social networks, one of the young people appeared linked to the violent Montreal street gang STL, like the initials of the neighborhood. Moreover, a year ago, a conflict between this gang and another from Anjou was at the origin of an outbreak of events involving gunshots.
This time, we still do not know why these two young minors targeted two motorists in the middle of the street who are not known to police circles.
“Usually it could be scoring, which consists of harming an opposing gang. Which does not seem to be the case here,” analyzes criminologist Maria Mourani.
One thing is certain, the young age of the suspects suggests that they were not owners of legitimate weapons, believes André Gélinas, retired detective sergeant from the Montreal police.
“So we are still talking about illegal weapons. We realize that the market [en] is flooded despite all the efforts of the police. And this will continue as long as we do not tackle the real problem, the weapons entering through the border [canado-américaine]“, he insists.
“That they acted out of pure murderous madness, to make scoring or to execute a contract, we can clearly see here that any young person can end up with weapons in their hands and potentially cause innocent victims,” adds the ex-police officer.
A reality
Hadjira Belkacem, founder and president of the Association of Muslim Burial in Quebec, is dismayed to see “that history is repeating itself.” Young people in her community are too often involved in armed violence in greater Montreal, she worries.
“We are tired of burying our young people. Unfortunately, this is a reality,” says Ms. Belkacem.
His organization will handle funeral services for the 14-year-old.
“We try to understand the problem, and above all to help parents, raise their awareness and give them tools. We cannot do this alone, we need all of society to counter this scourge. We have to find solutions together,” adds the one who makes a cry from the heart.
– With Michaël Nguyen