Quebec’s police watchdog is investigating after a suspect was shot during a police operation in Montreal’s west end Wednesday.
The Bureau des Enquêtes Indépendantes (BEI) said Montreal police were responding to a stolen vehicle report when the shooting occurred.
Officers arrived at the scene around 4:30 p.m. in the the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood.
The BEI said it appears police had stopped the vehicle, but the driver then allegedly drove in direction of the officers.
A police officer then opened gunfire and critically wounded one of the occupants in the car, according to the police watchdog.
The suspect was rushed to hospital. The suspect’s condition was critical as of Thursday morning.
The BEI did not provide more information about the suspect’s identity or say how many people were inside the car.
A wide safety perimeter closed off the neighbourhood between Addington and St-Jacques streets.
The BEI said six of its were assigned to the investigation. It investigates all cases where a person other than an officer on duty dies or is injured by police during an intervention.
Quebec provincial police also launched a parallel criminal investigation into the incident.
Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact the police watchdog on the BEI website.
— with files from Global’s Gloria Henriquez