A member of Montreal’s tight-knit Jewish community and a police officer were killed, while a second officer was critically wounded Monday morning, when gunmen opened fire near the historically Jewish Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood. One attacker was shot dead by responding officers and a second gunman arrested. At this time, reports indicate the target was the police, not the Jewish community.
The shooting began around 11:30 a.m. at the corner of de Courtrai Avenue and Trans Island Avenue, just outside a strip of kosher stores, the Chabad-Lubavitch MADA Community Centre and several other synagogues and Jewish day schools, including the flagship educational institutions of Chabad in Quebec. Witnesses described hearing shots as the gunman, dressed in military camouflage, exchanged heavy fire with police.
Within the hour, an emergency alert reached cellphones across Montreal, warning of an armed and dangerous suspect and instructing residents to shelter indoors, lock their doors and stay away from windows. The alert remained in effect for roughly three hours before being lifted.
The member of the local Jewish community who was killed in what appears to have been the crossfire is Michael Moshe Mizrahi, who attended the Chabad MADA Centre.
“He loved to celebrate together with everyone,” said MADA community member David Kakon. “Someone who was always smiling, always had a kind word for someone else. Loved his family, loved Israel, and loved being a Jew. He was at the wong place at the wrong time. We are devasated.”
Kakon noted that Beth Rivkah girls school, which is a block away, changed its schedule a few weeks ago to end the school year on Friday and not this week. “The pizza shop in front of which this took place would have been filled with girls during their break,” he said. “We are all very shaken right now, but this could have been so much worse; it could have been crazy. Thank G‑d that it wasn’t.”
This story has been updated to reflect that Michael Moshe Mizrahi succumbed to his wounds and has passed away.
May the memory of the two be blessing. May the one critically injured miraculously heal.