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Quebec’s police watchdog is looking for witnesses to the intervention led by Montreal police after an armed suspect was reported in the Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood on June 22.
Two victims died that day in the gunfight that ensued: a bystander, Michel Mizrahi, and a police officer, Mohamed Lamine Benredouane.
A second police officer was also shot, but survived.
On Monday, the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI) will set up a command post at the intersection of De Courtrai Avenue and Décarie Boulevard from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The BEI says it would like to speak with anyone who witnessed or has video of the police intervention. The province’s police watchdog says witnesses and anyone with information can go to the command post or reach the BEI via its website.
On June 22, Montreal police responded to reports of a person with a gun at a Hilton hotel on Décarie Boulevard around 11:35 a.m. When they arrived at the scene, gunfire was exchanged with the suspect, who was eventually killed.
The alleged shooter was later identified as 25-year-old Seth Scott Hatfield from Lethbridge, Alta.
SQ, RCMP also investigating
The attack took place across the street from a building that houses the Montreal offices of Aylo, the multinational company that owns the pornography site Pornhub.
The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) is leading the criminal investigation into the shooting while a specialized national security unit within the RCMP has opened an investigation into ideologically motivated violent extremism.
A manifesto allegedly left behind by Hatfield and created weeks before the attack expressed ideology tied to the incel, or involuntary celibate, movement, like hatred against women, and called for violence against several targets, including the pornography industry.
Neither the RCMP nor Quebec’s provincial police have publicly released details about Hatfield’s suspected motives. Aylo, for its part, said it wouldn’t comment further beyond acknowledging “reports discussing a possible connection to Aylor and Pornhub” given the investigation is ongoing.
The shooting sent shockwaves through the Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood and the province, prompting reactions from all levels of government. Funeral services have since been held for Mizrahi, 68, and Benredouane, 34.
A public memorial for Benredouane is planned for July 7 at the Bell Centre.