A police officer was killed and a second officer and a member of Montreal’s tight-knit Jewish community were critically wounded Monday morning when a gunman opened fire near the historically Jewish Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood. The gunman was shot dead by responding officers and a second gunman is reported to have been arrested. At this time, reports indicate the target was the police, not the Jewish community.
The shooting began around 11:30 a.m. at the corner of de Courtrai Avenue and Trans Island Avenue, just outside a strip of kosher stores, the Chabad-Lubavitch MADA Community Centre and several other synagogues and Jewish day schools, including the flagship educational institutions of Chabad in Quebec. Witnesses described hearing shots as the gunman, dressed in military camouflage, exchanged heavy fire with police.
Within the hour, an emergency alert reached cellphones across Montreal, warning of an armed and dangerous suspect and instructing residents to shelter indoors, lock their doors and stay away from windows. The alert remained in effect for roughly three hours before being lifted.
The member of the local Jewish community who was shot has been identified as Michael Moshe Mizrahi, who attends the Chabad MADA Centre.
“He loves to celebrate together with everyone,” said MADA community member David Kakon. “Someone who is always smiling, always has a kind word for someone else. Loves his family, loves Israel, and loves being a Jew. We are praying.”
Kakon noted that Beth Rivkah girls school, which is a block away, changed its schedule a few weeks ago to end the school year on Friday and not this week. “The pizza shop in front of which this took place would have been filled with girls during their break,” he said. “We are all very shaken right now, but this could have been so much worse; it could have been crazy. Thank G‑d that it wasn’t.”
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