Jewellery store robbery in Parc-Extension under investigation

Warning: This video contains scenes of graphic violence that some viewers may find disturbing.

Montreal police (SPVM) are investigating a robbery that occurred at a jewellery store in the Parc-Extension neighborhood on Saturday evening.

According to police, several people deliberately crashed an SUV into the storefront to carry out the robbery.

SPVM spokesperson Sabrina Gauthier said police received a 911 call around 6:30 p.m. reporting an alarm triggered at the store on Liège Street, near Champagneur Avenue.

“When police arrived at the scene, they found a 27-year-old man with injuries to the upper body. The victim had been injured during an altercation with the suspects,” Gauthier said.

The victim, Gaganjeet Singh, owner of the jewellery store, told CTV News that when he realized he was facing a robbery, he decided to confront the three armed attackers.

“Then I just tried to hit them, like they should go out. But the guys came in with a big hammer, rods, guns. It was hard for me to,” Singh explained.

Singh was transported to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and was later released.

He recounted that once the thieves left, he discovered one of his staffers trapped under the debris.

“When they hit with the car, so she was underneath the counters and after 15 minutes we pulled her out from the counters,” he said.

“Thank God she was sitting on the floor [before the crash] because if she had been standing, she would have been killed,” the owner said.

Montreal police confirmed that the suspects fled the scene before officers arrived. No arrests have been made but the SPVM hopes that someone will identify the individuals.

Police described one suspect as a white male and the other two as black males.

“It's still under the investigation now. Trying to figure out if [the SUV was] stolen are not. But we cannot confirm that. Like I said, the investigation is just at the beginning for now,” Gauthier said.

Singh said he had a sense something was “off” in recent days after noticing one person filming the business from outside and another coming in and out of the store, as if surveying the place.

According to owner, the suspects ran out with tens of thousands of dollars worth of gold.