MONTREAL — Police bullets killed a homeless man during a confrontation Tuesday and seriously wounded an innocent bystander who happened to be passing by on his way to work.
The bystander, a 36-year-old, was in critical condition and authorities would not reveal any other details about him, including his name.
Montreal police said they were pursuing a knife-wielding man who was strewing garbage bags around downtown Montreal.
There were conflicting reports from people in the neighbourhood about why the man would have been tossing garbage. Area residents said he was known to collect tin cans for a living.
The suspect being chased, Mario Hamel, was a 40-year-old homeless man who lived in a downtown shelter.
Officers eventually opened fire.
A Quebec provincial police spokesman said Hamel was shot dead on sight, with the death later confirmed in hospital.
Sgt. Claude Denis said the provincial police investigation was progressing with investigators and crime-scene technicians examining a scene that stretched several blocks.
One of the streets had garbage scattered across it. A bicycle was also visible in an area cordoned off by police tape.
“We know that he had a knife in his hand from the very beginning,” Denis said.
“What we’ve learned is that a few minutes before police arrived, (Hamel) was threatening someone that he knew.”
People who work in the area said Hamel was an itinerant who was a fixture in the neighbourhood. Police said they knew him too, without providing any further explanation.
He collected cans as his main means of income and had been living for at least two years at Accueil Bonneau, a men’s shelter not far from where the shooting took place.
The shelter’s director general, Aubin Boudreau said they heard rumblings that one of their own was involved in the altercation before discovering it was Hamel.
They only knew him by his first name: Mario.
“It happened not far from here so eventually we put it together that it was Mario,” said Boudreau.
Boudreau, who wouldn’t discuss Hamel’s case specifically, said the homeless man had children and a family of his own.
Boudreau called it a sad day; the men who frequent the shelter and those who work there are close to one another.
Accueil Bonneau operates four residences in Quebec and said it’s a sign that organizations like his need more funding to deal with demand.
He estimated that 85 per cent of people who use the shelter have mental health or dependency problems and the shelter needs more staff to meet the needs.
Provincial police weren’t able to say what caused the bystander to be shot.
Four police officers were treated for shock.
The events occurred around 6:40 a.m. on Tuesday morning.
The investigation has been handed over to Quebec provincial police. It is customary in Quebec that when one police force is involved in a shooting, another force investigates.