Montreal police officer Mohamed Lamine Benredouane and a civilian were killed on Monday after a gunman opened fire near a hotel before being shot dead by responding officers, Montreal police said.
Benredouane, 34, had served with the Montreal Police Service since 2021. Canadian outlet TVA Nouvelles reported that he was of Algerian origin.
Police Chief Fady Dagher said officers responded at about 11:35 a.m. after a witness reported seeing someone pointing a rifle from a window of a Hilton hotel in the Côte-des-Neiges district.
The gunman opened fire when police arrived, killing Benredouane and seriously injuring another officer. The injured officer was later reported to be in stable condition.
A civilian, identified by Canadian and European media as 68-year-old Michael Mizrahi, was also killed. Police said investigators had not determined who fired the shot that killed him.
Officers returned fire and killed the suspected attacker. Authorities said he appeared to have acted alone and that there was no continuing threat to the public.
Quebec Public Security Minister Ian Lafrenière said Canadian security agencies had assessed the shooting and concluded it was not a terrorist attack.
Le Monde reported that the gunman left a manifesto of about 100 pages expressing hatred of women and drawing on the misogynistic “incel,” or involuntary celibate, online subculture.
Police had not formally confirmed the attacker’s motive, and an independent watchdog is investigating the shooting because officers discharged their weapons.
Benredouane was the first Montreal police officer killed in the line of duty in 24 years.
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