A father was left in disbelief after his daughter was hit by an errant rifle shot in her apartment just outside of Montreal over the weekend.
On Friday night, Angélique Croteau was on her bed in her apartment in Repentigny when a rifle was fired two stories below from a ground-floor apartment, hitting her, Croteau’s father Stéphane told Global News on Monday.
“She is devastated,” he said.
A police spokesperson told Global News the victim was not sure what had occurred at first.
They said that after being shot, Angelique Croteau was able to make it out of her apartment and into the corridor, where she found help from the building’s maintenance worker.
She was taken to hospital for treatment and Stephane said the stray bullet has left his daughter with a fractured pelvis and a perforated intestine.
The police spokesperson said that two floors below, the shooter did not intend to fire the gun. A hunting rifle was fired accidentally, sending the stray bullet through the roof of the first-floor apartment as well as the one above it before hitting the victim.
Police say they arrested a man in his car shortly after the shot was fired, and that he was under the influence of alcohol.
A 65-year-old man from Repentigny faces a number of weapons charges in connection with the incident as well as impaired driving charges.
A neighbour who knows the victim has been left in shock by the incident.
“This doesn’t make any sense, to be honest,” Sean Poirer said. “Not here of all the places.”
The elder Croteau has started a GoFundMe campaign to help with his daughter’s recovery.
At the time of the publication of this article, it has raised over $12,000.