Police arrest 19-year-old suspect after Montreal triple homicide

Police have made an arrest following a deadly street fight that ended with three people killed in Montreal's Plateau-Mont-Royal borough last week.

Montreal police announced Thursday morning they had arrested a 19-year-old suspect who is scheduled to appear in court later today.

According to Quebec's Crown prosecution office, Yero Sava Dogo is accused of second-degree murder in the death of the 23-year-old victim, Alexandre Vatamanu Salamanca.

Montreal police Cmdr. Jean-Sébastien Caron said in a news release that "numerous pieces of evidence" revealed that one of the deceased victims was responsible for two of the killings, while another of the deceased victims was responsible for the third homicide. The third victim did not kill anyone else, police say. 

The triple homicide claimed the lives of a 15-year-old boy, and two men aged 25 and 23.Their deaths on May 21 marked the city's 14th, 15th, and 16th homicides of the year.

The investigation is not over. The major crime unit is still trying to determine how the conflict that involved 15 or 16 people started.

The 25-year-old victim, Ulrick Peterson Célestin, was identified last week by his grieving father who was struggling to come to terms with his son's violent death. Jean-Marie Célestin said his son leaves behind a two-year-old daughter.

Caron told reporters last week that he was particularly troubled by the fact that a young teenager was among the victims. "I honestly don't remember when we had a victim younger than 15," he said in a press briefing, adding that investigators believe the three killings were not related to street gangs. 

On Wednesday evening, the city recorded its 17th homicide after a 27-year-old was shot dead at a basketball court in Lachine in front of several people.

More to come.