MONTREAL: A midday shooting in Montreal killed three people on Monday, including a police officer, a civilian, and the alleged gunman, triggering rare levels of shock across the Canadian city.
Police declined to comment on what the motive might have been and whether the incident amounted to an act of terror.
French language public broadcaster Radio Canada said the shooter was connected to "incel" ideology — a misogynistic worldview that fueled the man responsible for one of Canada's most deadly mass killings, a 2018 vehicle-ramming in Toronto that killed 10.
Incel means "involuntarily celibate," and is linked to men driven to extremism over their apparent inability to find female partners.
Montreal police chief Fady Dagher said Monday's incident was "a tragedy, a nightmare."
Explosions of gun violence in broad daylight are not nearly as common in Canada as they are across the border in the United States, but they are not unheard of. A shooting like this in Montreal is rare.
Dagher said police received a call about an active shooting in Montreal's Cote-des-Neiges neighborhood at around 11:30 am (1530 GMT).
Police responded and a shootout ensued, with the assailant firing from inside a building with a long gun, Dagher told reporters at the scene.
Frank Vogas told AFP he was buying paint at a shop in the area when the gunfire erupted.
"I see the police storm in, come in from everywhere, and, they raise their guns," the 71-year-old said, explaining that officers told people in the shop to keep low to the floor.
Cote-des-Neiges resident Danny Wilk told AFP that he witnessed the violence unfold.
"I was on the street near my home when I heard one shot, then several more," he said, adding: "I tried to take shelter in the nearby pizzeria, and that's when I saw the shooter, who looked ready to fire his weapon, dressed in military clothing."
Wilk said he saw the slain officer, dead on the ground, before the shooter was taken down by police.
Dagher confirmed one male officer was shot dead, and another female officer was seriously wounded but her life is not in danger. He confirmed the gunman was dressed in what appeared to be military-style clothing.
The details surrounding the slain civilian are not yet known.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was "horrified" by the violence.
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