Officers not likely targeted in MUHC hospital shooting: Montreal police

Montreal police (SPVM) are saying two officers involved in a shooting outside the McGill University Health Centre last month were likely not targeted.

The incident date backs to Aug. 24 at around 1:30 a.m., when gunshots were heard on hospital grounds. At the same moment, a female officer was injured on the arm after being grazed by a bullet as she and her partner were leaving the parking lot.

The shooting prompted a temporary lockdown on several floors of the hospital.

In the early hours of the investigation, bullet holes and pellets were found at the scene, leading police to believe the officers may have been targeted.

However, police said that further investigation, which included a thorough analysis of the hospital grounds and surrounding areas, a look at camera images to monitor the movement of pedestrians, cyclists and motorists as well as ballistic reports, shed new light on the incident.

“The shots were fired from a green space set up between St-Jacques and Pullman streets, south of the hospital,” the SPVM said in a news release on Tuesday.

“However, due to the terrain, it is unlikely that the shooter could have intentionally targeted the police officers who were then in the parking lot.”

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Police are now saying that the most likely scenario is that the bullet impact holes found on the façade of the hospital were from stray bullets that were fired from within the green space.

Police said the officer’s injuries can be explained by fragments that might have ricocheted.

The SPVM said the officer and her partner are doing well despite the dangerous situation in which they and bystanders found themselves in.

The investigation is ongoing and police are asking anyone with information to call 911 or the anonymous and confidential Info-Crime line at 514-393-1133.