Montreal police are investigating after nine people were injured when they were struck by a vehicle driven by a 38-year-old man in Montreal North on Wednesday afternoon.
Police spokesperson Manuel Couture said several 911 calls were logged at around 12: 45 p.m. reporting a collision between a vehicle and several pedestrians.
Couture said preliminary information indicates the vehicle was involved in two collisions.
“He first hit a pedestrian at the corner of Langelier and Dijon,” Couture said.
The driver then took off, before ending up on the sidewalk a few blocks further at the intersection of Avenue Valade and Dijon Street, according to police.
Couture said that’s where he struck eight people, including a 17-year-old and a three-year-old child, who were on the sidewalk at the time.
“And he continued until Rolland Street, where he was arrested by a police officer,” he said.
All nine people were taken hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
The driver of the car did not suffer any injuries but was taken to hospital for a mental health assessment, under police guard.
“The man was confused when the police officer arrested him,” Couture said.
Investigators and collision experts were dispatched to the scene to try to understand the circumstances leading up to the crashes.
Police said it is too soon to know whether it was a deliberate act or not.
“The investigators will have to know in what state of mind he was when he was driving the car,” Couture said. “Was he in a psychotic crisis, was he aware of what he was doing?”
For now, Couture said they have no indication it was intentional or planned.
The driver was expected to be interviewed as soon as his health status allowed.