Residents of a normally quiet neighbourhood in Montreal West woke up Thursday morning to a crime scene.
Police were called in the middle of the night after multiple gunshots were heard on Ronald and Avon streets in Montreal West.
“There was a car going westbound on Ronald street, then the gunshots were heard,” said Veronique Comtois, spokesperson for the Montreal police. “The driver and passenger of the car were injured by firearm. There was another person in the car that fled the scene after the event.”
The driver, a 19-year-old man, was declared dead at the scene, becoming the city’s 14th homicide of the year.
Police say the 17-year-old passenger is in critical but stable condition.
The shooting happened just down the road from a daycare and a church.
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Its pastor, who says his establishment has been located on Ronald Drive for over 20 years, calls the incident shocking.
“It’s a very quiet neighbourhood and I don’t expect that things like this would happen,” said Francis Abiodun. “It just shows the level of violence that is spreading all over the world.”
There were two other shootings on the island of Montreal that happened hours earlier.
Around 11 p.m., on Wednesday, two men, ages 18 and 20, were found critically wounded by gunfire at the corner of Ash Avenue and Dick-Irvin Street in Pointe-St-Charles.
Police believe the shootings occurred after an altercation between two groups.
Just over an hour later, at 12:15 a.m., shots were fired from a moving car towards a bar in LaSalle.
No injuries were reported, though at least one bullet impact was found on the building.
Montreal West’s mayor calls the incident in his town surprising, and says it’s concerning to see this kind of violence popping up in different neighbourhoods across the city.
“It’s not a LaSalle problem, it’s not a Montreal West problem, it’s a general problem,” said Beny Masella. “Does it mean they have to have better control on the guns, does it mean they have to have better control of violence in general? I’m not really sure where the answer lies, it’s probably a combination of things.”
Police say there have been no arrests made yet concerning the incidents in LaSalle or in Pointe-Saint-Charles.
In Montreal West, police have detained two suspects who are expected to be questioned by investigators.
They added that for now, there is no connection between the three shootings — though that, too, is under investigation.
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