Quebec’s chief coroner has ordered a public inquiry into the homicides of three men who were gunned down in the Montreal area as well as the death of the man suspected of killing them at random.
Pascale Descary issued the directive Monday, tapping coroner Géhane Kamel to lead the inquiry. A prosecutor, who will be appointed soon, will also assist in the investigation.
“The hearings will allow anyone of interest to speak about the circumstances of these deaths in order to analyze all the contributing factors, with a view to proposing possible solutions for better protection of human life,” the coroner’s office said in a statement issued Monday.
The inquiry comes after 26-year-old Abdulla Shaikh was killed during an intervention by Montreal police at a motel last Thursday. He was the suspect in the shooting deaths of three men in a roughly 24-hour period.
Kamel will look into the death of André Lemieux, 64, and Mohamed Belhaj, 48, who were both killed in Montreal last Tuesday. About 24 hours later, a third man, Alex Lévis Crevier, 22, was killed in Laval, just north of Montreal.
Quebec’s independent police watchdog is investigating the death of Shaikh by police while the provincial police force is investigating the three homicides.
The coroner’s office said more details about the public inquiry and dates of the hearings will be provided at a later date.
—with files from the Canadian Press