Teen facing first-degree murder charge for Montreal killings arrested in Ontario

Police say a teen wanted in Montreal on two counts of first-degree murder in a double homicide last summer has been arrested by police officers in the Greater Toronto Area.

Montreal police announced the 18-year-old suspect was arrested by the Halton Regional Police Service (HRPS) on Thursday. They did not release his name because he was a minor at the time of the killings in Montreal, but said he is allegedly involved in the city's 14th and 15th homicides in July 2022.

In a media release issued by the HRPS, they said their vehicle theft task force arrested three suspects from Quebec early Thursday morning while investigating the theft of a pick-up truck in the Georgetown area.

"Officers learned the suspects were staying at an Airbnb in Milton and using a rented Hyundai Elantra to steal vehicles in the area. In the early hours of March 2, 2023, HRPS officers located and arrested 3 suspects at a gas station in Mississauga," police said in the release.

Police officers seized a loaded handgun, a large machete, and tools used "in the commission of reprogramming-style vehicle thefts."

They said one of the three suspects was also wanted for first-degree murder in Quebec. That suspect is also facing more than a dozen theft and firearms charges, including possession of a prohibited or restricted firearm, related to the HRPS investigation. 

Two other men from Quebec, both aged 19, were also charged with theft and firearms offences relating to the series of vehicle thefts in the Halton, Ont. area.

2 TEENS KILLED IN MONTREAL SHOOTING

The murder suspect nabbed in Ontario has been wanted since the fatal shooting of two other teens while they were in a car in Montreal's west end on July 28, 2022.

That night, Montreal police officers kept busy responding to three separate shootings. In the third shooting, around 2 a.m., the driver of a car was hit by several gunshots from an unknown location near Ronald and Avon streets.

The driver, an 18-year-old man, was declared dead at the scene.

A 17-year-old male passenger was sent to hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.

Montreal police said the accused teen appeared by videoconference before a youth court judge in Quebec on Thursday and will be brought to the province to face further proceedings.

He is scheduled to return to court on March 6.