The bullet-riddled body of a murder victim in his fifties was found next to a parked car on 15th Ave. near Belanger early Wednesday morning.

Unconfirmed media reports named the victim as Mario Bourgeois, a man who had a lengthy criminal record for a variety of crimes including sexual assault.

A passerby noticed the man slumped next to the car on the sidewalk and alerted police at around 6:45 a.m.

Montreal's homicide squad rushed to the murder scene in Villeray while ambulance technicians examined the body and confirmed the man's death.

Investigators cordoned off the area around the car on 15th Avenue, north of the intersection of Belanger. The victim's body was not removed from the site for several hours as investigators examined the scene.

Police officers found a semi-automatic weapon with a long silencer near the car. Investigators cannot confirm whether this was the firearm used in the shooting until they do ballistic tests.

This fatal shooting is the fourth homicide of the year.