MONTREAL - Quebec provincial police have completed their probe of a Montreal police shooting that left two people dead last June -- including an innocent bystander on his way to work.

They have given the file to Quebec's director of criminal prosecutions to determine whether charges will be laid against Montreal police officers.

In a case that made national headlines and prompted an angry anti-police march, officers shot a homeless man during a public disturbance last June, while their gunfire also struck a man who was arriving for work at a nearby hospital.

Montreal police say they were called as a knife-wielding homeless man tossed garbage around downtown Montreal.

Mario Hamel, 40, a mentally ill man who lived in a downtown shelter, was shot after police cornered him, ordered him to drop his weapon and pepper-sprayed him.

Patrick Limoges, a passerby on his way to work, was also killed in the shooting. The 36-year-old was across the street when he was struck by a police bullet.

In Quebec, it is customary when a police force is involved in a shooting that another force is brought in to handle the investigation.

The debate over who should be leading those investigations was rekindled this summer following the shootings.

Public Security Minister Robert Dutil confirmed recently he intends to table legislation that will bring in a civilian oversight body to take over that task.

Critics have argued that a police force investigating another force lacks transparency.

Now, it will be up to the Crown to determine whether charges are laid against the police officers.

"We'll have to study the file and if there's a charge, but it's too soon for now," Crown attorney Jean-Pascal Boucher said Wednesday.

"It won't be settled in a few days. We need to do an in-depth study."

Montreal police have remained mostly mum on the case.

But in a recent interview with The Canadian Press, police chief Marc Parent called it an "exceptional" case and reaffirmed his condolences to the families of the two victims.

"It's always difficult for everyone involved, the family, friends as well as the police that are involved," Parent said.

"We're never left indifferent by these events and we always try to look at how we do things and what we can learn from these operations -- how we can do it better."

A provincial police spokeswoman said Wednesday that force had no further comment about the case.