Quebec provincial police confirmed on Friday that a mentally ill man suspected of killing three people indiscriminately used an illegally obtained firearm. Meanwhile, questions arise about why the man was released from a mental institution.
Montreal police shot and killed Abdulla Shaikh, 26, in a motel parking lot early Thursday morning after allegedly shooting dead three men in Montreal and Laval, a suburb north of the city, in the space of about 24 hours. Two men, aged 64 and 48, were shot and killed about an hour apart on Tuesday evening before a third man, aged 22, was killed on Wednesday evening.
Police suspect the murders were committed by the same suspect, apparently at random.
“As for the weapon that was acquired by this person, the investigation is still ongoing to find out where he could have obtained the weapon,” said Benoit Richard, spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec (SQ). , to CTV News.
“At this time, we know he didn’t have a firearms license.”
SHOOTER CONSIDERED AT ‘SIGNIFICANT’ RISK
As the police investigation continues into the multiple homicides, a ruling by Quebec’s Mental Health Review Commission raises concerns about the health care system’s ability to properly monitor people with mental health issues who are released into the community.
In March, a decision by the mental health review board – the Mental Disorders Review Board – said Shaikh could continue to live outside a psychiatric hospital even if his psychiatrist determined he was a “a significant risk to public safety” because of his mental illness. State. The mental health review board accepted testimony from his psychiatrist that he had improved in the months leading up to the hearing last spring.
The doctor recommended – and the council agreed – that he be allowed to remain a free man as long as he adheres to certain conditions set by the hospital, including following the recommendations of his treatment team. He made the recommendation despite reporting some concerns about his patient’s behavior, including “the denial and trivialization of behavioral disorders, violence and psychiatric pathology” as well as “the heavy history of accusations of acts criminals of all kinds remains denied, which trivializes the future risks of acting out.”
When reached on Friday afternoon, the psychiatrist declined to comment.
Shaikh was found not criminally responsible in July 2018 after being charged with mischief following a series of incidents at Montreal-area airports. In one incident, he set his passport on fire with a candle near the entrance to Montreal-Trudeau airport.
CTV has confirmed that the shooter was conditionally released in 2021 from Hôpital de la Cité-de-la-Santé in Laval.
On Friday, the CISSS de Laval, the regional health authority that oversees the hospital, released a statement to CTV saying it was aware of this week’s homicides but could not answer specific questions. – especially if Shaikh’s release conditions were met – because of patient confidentiality.
The statement said it is the responsibility of the regional health board to ensure “compliance” with the treatment and care orders that patients must follow when released into the community.
“In the event that the CISSS de Laval is informed that a user does not comply with the conditions or is assessed as not complying with the conditions issued by the [Tribunal administratif du Québec] and the Superior Court, public safety would be called upon to enforce these conditions,” the statement read.
“The CISSS de Laval wishes to offer its sympathy to the families of the victims.”
OVERLOADED HOSPITALS: PSYCHIATRIST
A Montreal psychiatrist who is not involved in Shaikh’s case suggested the bar is sometimes too low to decide whether or not someone considered a public safety risk due to their mental state can be released.
“They must reach the lowest condition that will still guarantee that society is not in danger. They seek the [fewest] possible conditions,” said Dr. Gilles Chamberland.
“But the problem is that it is the hospital that will have to deal with these conditions. Hospitals are there to treat patients, not to follow people who could again be dangerous.”
Dr Chamberlain, who works at the Philippe-Pinel psychiatric hospital in Montreal, also pointed to the lack of resources for people once they leave a mental health facility on parole. In some cases, he said, outpatient clinics turn people away because they are too dangerous.
“We have a patient at Philippe-Pinel, and all resources are refusing the patient. We have a court order to release him, but we don’t know where because he is refused everywhere,” he said.
Lawyer Francois Legault, who represented Shaikh in March during his annual release review, questioned whether police acted too quickly, given his delicate mental state.
“It was important to protect the company. I completely agree with that, but why is it so important not to do maybe more legwork before entering? Knowing that he might have in his possession a weapon, and also knowing that he had serious mental health issues,” he asked.
“Why didn’t you get some social workers or maybe a psychologist to come with the police team and try to start a discussion with him?”
He noted that even if someone is “the worst [kind of] criminal”, they have a right to dignity.
“Even if that person killed three other people, that doesn’t mean he deserves this,” he said. “You have the right to be arrested… This is [up to the] judicial system to deal with it. We don’t kill people just because they kill others.”
Legault added that he had not seen Shaikh since March.
“We are all sorry for what happened to the three victims,” he said. “As far as I am concerned, on March 29, there is nothing to suggest that such a thing could happen.”
‘REST IN PEACE MY BROTHER’
The families of the multiple homicide victims are also trying to make sense of what happened.
Roxanne Crevier, the sister of the third victim – Alex Levis Crevier, 22 – said in a social media post that his death was a “painful nightmare” and that she is unable to walk past the scene where he was been killed.
Crevier was shot at around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday on Clermont Boulevard and was pronounced dead at the scene. A skateboard was found near his body.
On Thursday evening, his sister posted a photo of a makeshift memorial at the crime scene on Facebook.
“All I have are these memories now…seeing you happy to be with us, to be with your nephews,” she wrote in a text with the photo.
“I already miss you.”
The other victims were André Lemieux, the 64-year-old father of professional boxer David Lemieux. He was shot and killed around 9:45 p.m. near the corner of Jules-Poitras and Deguire boulevards in the Saint-Laurent borough in Montreal.
About 65 minutes later, Mohamed Salah Belhaj, 48, was shot dead around 10:50 p.m. at the intersection of Sauvé Ouest and Meilleur streets in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough.
The case was transferred to Quebec provincial police, the SQ, who said they believe the shooter acted alone and appears to have picked his victims at random.
With files from CTV Montreal’s Daniel J. Rowe and Ian Wood
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