Montreal officer killed in hotel shooting, civilian also dies

A gunman armed with a long gun opened fire in Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood, killing SPVM officer Mohamed Lamine Benredouane and civilian Michael Mizrahi before police shot the suspect dead. The attack also left another officer seriously injured, though that officer was later stabilized, and a civilian suffered minor injuries. In a dense urban area packed with traffic, transit and nearby businesses, the shooting quickly turned into a citywide security response.

Police said the first call came at about 11:35 a.m., after a witness reported seeing a gun sticking out of a window at the Hilton Garden Inn Montreal Midtown. Officers then confronted the gunman on the ground and exchanged fire. A long gun was recovered from the scene. Within minutes, authorities issued an emergency shelter-in-place alert and temporarily closed parts of the Décarie expressway and two subway lines before lifting the alert shortly after 3 p.m.

Benredouane, 34, had been with the Montreal police service since 2021. Police Chief Fady Dagher said it was the first time in 24 years that a Montreal police officer had been killed in the line of duty, and he described the day as a nightmare. The killing immediately raised questions about how officers were deployed to the hotel, how fast the threat was isolated, and what protections are in place when an armed suspect opens fire from within a busy commercial corridor.

Investigators have not publicly confirmed the motive or whether the shooting was a targeted attack on police. Police also have not said who fired the shot that killed Mizrahi. Quebec’s police watchdog, the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, is investigating the officers’ response, while separate questions remain about the suspect’s background. Reports have said he distributed a violent incel manifesto targeting women, but police have not confirmed that detail as the motive.

The shooting took place in an area with kosher restaurants and supermarkets frequented by Montreal’s large Jewish community, adding to the alarm. The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said it was closely monitoring the situation and urged vigilance. For Montreal, the case is now about more than one violent morning at a hotel. It has become a test of how police respond when an armed suspect turns a neighborhood into an active threat zone, and how the city protects officers and civilians when the danger is both sudden and public.