Police released a new photo Wednesday as they continue to search for a gunman after a woman was grazed by a bullet during a robbery attempt in Montreal.
The 41-year-old woman was working inside Tabagie Place Frontenac, a depanneur in a strip mall on Ontario St. near Du Havre St. when she was approached by a man.
“One woman was shouting, saying ‘Call police! Call police! Call 911!” said local store owner Rakesh Chandrekand. “That’s all we heard. We didn’t hear any shots.”
The suspect shot at her, grazing her neck, then fled the scene. He is still at large.
“What we know from the witnesses on site is that it was probably an armed robbery that went bad,” said Montreal police spokesperson Benoit Boiselle, who said the contents of the cash register were emptied. So far they are unclear as to why the suspect fired his weapon.
Witnesses called 9-1-1 and emergency crews rushed to the mall, loading the woman into an ambulance and taking her to hospital.
“She was conscious when she left the place,” said Boiselle, adding later that she is in stable condition.
Another employee or friend was inside of the mall and has been treated for shock, he added.
Police say the suspect is a man in his 40s who fled on foot toward du Havre St. He was spotted on the STM surveillance camera entering Frontenac metro as he fled. His weapon has also not been recovered.
“For now we have lots of police officers inside the mall talking to witnesses, so we will have a good resume of what happened,” said Boiselle, adding that the victim has been able to speak with police to provide information.
Boiselle said police are not overly concerned about the safety of the public at large.
“Usually these kinds of events are very specific to what happened today. They won’t necessarily charge the other citizens around the place because they just want to leave the scene and just want to leave without being caught by police officers, so for security, we just want to ask people to just be aware of what happened,” he said.
Chandrekand said there has never been an incident like this in the six years he has worked at the strip mall.
Anyone who may have spotted the man should call 9-1-1 immediately. If you have information to identify or locate him, please call 9-1-1 or Info-Crime at 514-393-1133. The information will be treated anonymously and confidentially.