Brutality Canada Police Brutality O Canada

Shootout in city

Fleeing suspect injures cop before surrendering;
Officer, fugitive both stable

PAUL CHERRY, LEVON SEVUNTS and SIDHARTHA BANERJEE of The Gazette contributed to this report
The Gazette
Friday 13 July 2001

Gunfire startled downtown shoppers yesterday as a fleeing robbery suspect shot down a pursuing policeman and later was cornered and was shot himself.

Less than two hours later, the wounded men were treated in the same trauma room of the Montreal General Hospital and both were said to be in stable condition.

The pursuit began sometime after 3 p.m. when an armed man held up a bank at the corner of Ste. Catherine and University Sts.

A Montreal Urban Community police officer working alone on foot patrol saw the man run out of the bank and chased him.

When the robber got to the corner of Cathcart and University Sts., he turned and fired at the policeman, hitting him more than once. The policeman fell to the street between parked cars.

Chief Inspector Alain Barbagallo said that after shooting the policeman, the robber jumped into a taxi somewhere near Phillips Square and ordered the driver to help him flee.

"By that point other police officers had arrived," Barbagallo said.

The taxi was followed until it stopped on the northeast corner of Rene Levesque Blvd. and St. Alexandre St., he said.

Witnesses said several police officers and patrol cars converged on the intersection. At least four shots were fired.

The gunfire caught the attention of Mary McGovern, who was working in an office at St. Patrick's Basilica on Rene Levesque Blvd. across the street from where the taxi was parked.

"There were three shots in succession," McGovern said. "Other police had arrived with their guns drawn. There was another shot and the taxi door opened.

"A man got out and threw his gun to the ground. I could hear it clatter on the ground. He came out with his hands up."

Rene Oliviera peered out of his window at SNC Lavalin to see what all the noise was about.

He initially assumed the commotion was caused by a protest at the U.S. consulate across the street.

"I heard three or four shots," Oliviera said. "I came downstairs and I saw the man being arrested by the policemen.

"I could see (bullet holes) in the windshield of the taxi. There were more than 10 or 12 police cars there. Three or four policemen were holding him. They didn't handcuff him. I think it was because he was shot in the arm. I could see blood coming from his arm and he wasn't moving it."

Another witness, Philippe Desbiolles, who watched from a third-floor office window on Rene Levesque, said the robber wasn't in the taxi but came running to the intersection where he was shot.

"I heard some cop sirens and I saw a guy coming from Rene Levesque W. running and he hid by a cab at St. Alexandre," Desbiolles said.

He said he saw the fugitive open the driver's side door and use it as a shield as the police got into position. "The cops blocked him so he couldn't get away."

Desbiolles said he saw the fugitive fumbling in a bag. Then police fired five or six shots, he said. The fugitive tossed away a gun before lying down on his stomach.

"I saw the gun; it landed in front of the police car by the sidewalk," Desbiolles said. "He just surrendered, but he didn't seem like he'd been shot. But when they turned him over, I saw a pool of blood on the ground. I think he was shot in the top left shoulder, right above his heart."

Marc Aube of Hull was taking a computer-training course in an office building on the corner of Rene Levesque and St. Alexandre and took note of the time when he heard gunshots. He said it was 3:17 p.m.

"There were three shots and a pause and then a fourth shot. I think the cops shot four times into the taxi," Aube said. "They opened the door and pulled the guy out. It was obvious he was bleeding."

Witnesses said the taxi-driver was inside the vehicle when the police fired into it. Eric Berry, a spokesman for Urgences Sante, said the taxi-driver and a witness to what happened were treated for shock.

One source said the fugitive had been hit by three bullets and the policeman by five bullets. By about 5 p.m. both wounded men were in the same trauma room at the Montreal General.

Police did not release the names of either the police officer or the bank robber. Witnesses described the robber as a male in his 30s with dark hair.

Berry said the police officer and the fugitive were both in stable condition when they were taken to the Montreal General. He added that the police officer was able to talk to ambulance technicians on the way.

Barbagallo said police "do not have much information on the gravity of their wounds and we are waiting for the hospital to tell us what happened."

The Surete du Quebec has taken over the investigation of the shooting.

MUC police did not say how much money had been taken from the bank, or whether the money was found on the suspect.

Paul Cherry's E-mail address is pcherry@thegazette.southam.ca

Reprinted under the Fair Use doctrine of international copyright law.

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This page created July 15, 2001