Police have identified the victim in a fatal Laval shooting as an oft-arrested man with alleged Mafia ties.
Steve Ovadia had no criminal record, but his home was the subject of a search two years ago that was part of a major police sweept. Ovadia had been seen meeting with several alleged Mafia leaders over the years.
The shooting happened at 8:17 p.m. on Wednesday in the parking lot of a strip mall outside a restaurant on Samson Blvd. in Chomedey.
A spokesperson for Laval police said the assailant or assailants fled the scene.
Investigative journalist Vincent Larouche, who has written extensively about organized crime, said his sources have told him that Ovadia's family was surprised by the killing and that police are looking into the possibility he was called to a meeting as a trap.
The murder was the second shooting in Laval in as many days. On Tuesday, John MacKenzie, a man with alleged connections to the West-End Gang, was non-fatally shot and police are looking into a possible connection between the two incidents.
