Alleged Montreal shooter identified as 25-year

The suspect in a shooting in Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood Monday that claimed the lives of a police officer and civilian has been identified as a 25-year-old man from Lethbridge, Alta.

The Quebec coroner released the name of Seth Scott Hatfield on Tuesday.

Hatfield also died following a violent exchange of gunfire that unfolded outside of a hotel in the Montreal borough.

The coroner also identified the victims as Mohamed Lamine Benredouane, 34, a Montreal police officer, and 68-year-old Michel Mizrahi.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Côte-des-Neiges Mayor Stéphanie Valenzuela described the situation as a “nightmare.”

“What we’ve lived in the last 24 hours, I don’t wish it on anyone,” she said.

Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada said the city is feeling the grief.

“Yesterday people were in the mode of survival, you don’t feel the pain, but we feel it today,” Martinez Ferrada said.

Quebec’s police watchdog, the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI), is investigating the shooting. Lethbridge Police say they are assisting the BEI with its investigation.

The University of Lethbridge confirmed in a statement that the alleged shooter was a student of the school.

Some members of Montreal’s Jewish community gathered around the scene of Monday’s shooting to mourn Mizrahi.

He was working in a nearby business when he was killed in the crossfire after police responded to reports of a shooter on Monday morning near the entrance of a hotel in the multicultural neighbourhood of Montreal.

One day later, a few local residents appeared to be visibly shaken and emotional, as police maintained a perimeter around the crime scene in the Côte-des-Neiges district, which has a mix of residential homes and businesses.

Stuart Nutik, who lives nearby and is a member of the Jewish community, said he was at home when a neighbour warned him there was an active shooter near the synagogue he was waiting to open.

“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “Thank God my friend told me, so I stayed home.”

Nutik described the shooting as a tragedy and said the neighbourhood was struggling to process what had happened. “For the whole community this is not normal,” he said. “It’s a tragedy. I hope God will give strength to the people involved.”

Another local resident, Lia Gunthridge, said she was pushing her three-year-old son in a stroller near a playground in the park near where the shooting took place, when she heard gunshots.

“We like to go there to relax. It’s such a nice space,” she said. “But we left quickly when we saw the police. It didn’t seem safe.”

She returned Tuesday morning without her son to pay her respects to the victims. “Knowing that such a tragedy took place so close to where I play with my child, it just feels too close,” she said.

Valenzuela and Martinez Ferrada expressed their gratitude to the first responders who acted promptly to secure the neighbourhood.

“It was an act of heroism,” Valenzuela said, describing Benredouane, the officer who was killed.

Benredouane had been with Montreal police since 2021. Police chief Fady Dagher said a second police officer was also injured.

Police say a long gun was seized following the shooting.

After Monday’s shootout, RCMP sent a bulletin to multiple police agencies across the country warning about possible copycats in other cities after a 105 page manifesto was traced back to Alberta.

A copy of the manifesto was obtained by Global News.

It describes “terrible loneliness, isolation and social degradation,” that plagues the “common male.”

The text encourages violent confrontation with police.

Several city blocks were cordoned off during the shooting, and residents were told to shelter in place because of the presence of an armed and dangerous suspect.

Valenzuela said there are supports available for anyone who is struggling following the incident.

“The strength of our borough resides in our resilience,” she said.

– With files from The Canadian Press