Montreal man guilty in attempted murder of police officer

A Quebec Superior Court jury has found a Montreal man guilty for the attempted murder of a Montreal police (SPVM) officer in the Parc-Extension neighbourhood in 2021, which led to the arrest of an innocent man at the time.

Ali Ngarukiye, 24, was found guilty of hitting SPVM officer Sanjay Vig, and then trying to shoot him after stealing his service firearm.

A key witness at the trial was an imam, who provided shelter to Ngarukiye in a Toronto mosque.

The imam testified in court that Ngarukiye confided in him he wanted to kill police officers because he felt Canada was a country of non-believers.

At the time, the police officer told his colleague his attacker was a man he had just pulled over named Mamadi Camara, who was forcefully arrested but released six days later when police realized they had the wrong person.

Camara testified in the trial and is suing the SPVM for $1.2 million for wrongful arrest.

Ngarukyie will be sentenced at a later date.

He is also awaiting trial in a second case, in which he's accused of murdering his cellmate in jail.