Brazen shooting in Montreal ends with 2 dead; 2 fled

MONTREAL – The owner of a high-end fashion boutique survived a brazen midday shooting inside his Old Montreal shop Thursday that left two others dead.

Joseph Ducarme, 41, managed to flee the building and, as of Thursday night, was still missing – as were the two gunmen. It is not known whether he was injured in the attack.

Ducarme’s bodyguard, Peter Christopoulos, and another unidentified man were killed. Two other men were injured. One of them managed to flee the scene and drive himself to hospital.

Confused tourists, bewildered bankers and office workers watched in horror as emergency medical crews bundled victims into ambulances and police cordoned off the crime scene.

Masonry workers said the suspects were gone before they looked up and noticed a wig – dark-brown with dreadlocks – discarded at the eastern corner of the InterContinental Hotel.

Police are searching for two suspects who opened fire in Flawnego, an upscale clothing shop on St. Jacques Street West shortly before 1:45 p.m., and then fled to a waiting getaway car, leaving a trail of blood and abandoned disguises in their wake.

Montreal police Const. Olivier Lapointe said the obvious priority now is figuring out the motive and connection between the suspects and the victims.

"We have some pieces of the puzzle so far, but we are trying to find the link to see why it happened there. One thing for sure, it didn’t happen on the street. The people injured were not passersby."

When officers arrived, three people were injured. "Sadly, one death was confirmed on the scene and two people were sent to hospital," Lapointe said.

Minutes later, police learned a fourth victim had managed to escape and drive himself to a different hospital.

"He was injured very seriously, but still conscious and able to drive. We think that he was in the store . . . but he ran away, he didn’t wait for the ambulance or the police," Lapointe said.

The police operation caused traffic gridlock and havoc for motorists whose vehicles were trapped inside the cordoned-off area.

Ducarme is out on $50,000 bail for a charge of assault and was under orders not to communicate with street gang members. He is reputed to have ties to the Reds, a street gang reportedly trying to mark its territory in Montreal’s lucrative drug trade in bars and restaurants.

The decimation of the Hells Angels in a series of police raids last year – in which the majority of the biker gang’s members were arrested – left a significant void in the city’s drug trade.

Ducarme has also been mentioned in police requests for search warrants associated with Montreal construction magnate Antonio Magi.

In a November request for a search warrant for Magi’s office, Montreal police said that Magi hired Ducarme in July to collect outstanding loans.

Magi also survived an attempt on his life in 2008 when a gunman ambushed him in his car while he was driving in Montreal.

A woman who answered the phone at Magi’s office Thursday said he was not accepting calls.

With files from Monique Muise