Quebec coroner hears from officers who took part in takedown of killing spree suspect

Montreal police tactical officers have described the shootout in a motel room between them and a suspect who had killed three men at random over a 24-hour period in August 2022.

Officers Jean-Philippe Bergeron and Mathieu Robillard testified Tuesday on Day 2 of a coroner's inquest into the murders of the three men, and the police killing of the suspect, 26-year-old Abdulla Shaikh.

The officers say they encountered an armed suspect who had barricaded himself inside a Montreal motel room, and exchanged gunfire with him.

But they couldn't see clearly inside the room and wanted to avoid a second exchange of gunfire.

So they say they shot plastic bullets at his body to see whether he would move, and used a robot camera and a camera fitted on a telescopic arm to determine whether the suspect still posed a threat.

Coroner Gehane Kamel is presiding over the inquiry into the murders of Andre Lemieux, Mohamed Belhaj and Alex Levis-Crevier as well as the police killing of Shaikh.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2023.