MONTREAL - A 48-year-old man has died after being shot by a Montreal police officer.
The violent incident began at 2 a.m. Wednesday morning in Rosemont when the man apparently showed up at his ex-wife's home at 6280 Molson St., disobeying a court order to stay away from the residence.
She ran away to a neighbour's home and called police, and in the meantime someone led the man outside.
Montreal police arrived at the scene to find the man heavily intoxicated and wielding a knife, said a spokesperson for the Surete du Quebec, who are handling the investigation as they always do whenever there's a shooting involving local police.
"A citizen was trying to talk to him but it didn't work, so police took charge of the event," said Sgt. Martine Isabelle. "They took out pepper spray, it didn't work. Then he charged (at) them, so she had to take out her gun and shoot in his direction."
The man was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The woman's neighbour said she heard a single gun shot.
"We heard voices, a commotion and screams," she told CTV Montreal's Stephane Giroux.
The SQ would not divulge any details on the Montreal officer who fired the shot, not even how many years she had served on the force. Nor would police release details on the victim other than his age and that he was known to police.
Neighbours described the man as a quiet type, but one who often had police at the house to respond to domestic disturbances.
The SQ found a backpack possibly belonging to the victim outside the apartment and spent hours looking for evidence.
