MONTREAL — Quebec's police watchdog says it is investigating the deaths of two men in Montreal who were fleeing from police when their vehicle struck a tree Thursday morning.
The crash northeast of downtown happened shortly after two nearby drive-by shootings, which injured one man.
The watchdog agency, the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, said a Montreal police officer was responding to a 911 call reporting gunshots and dangerous driving shortly after 5:30 a.m.
"The officer reportedly spotted a vehicle that was driving dangerously and appeared to match the description of the vehicle in the 911 call," the BEI said in a news release.
It said the officer headed toward the suspect vehicle but soon lost sight of it. Around one minute later, the driver of that vehicle crashed into a tree.
One of the two men died at the scene, the BEI said, while the other was transported to hospital where he was declared dead. Montreal police said both men were in their 20s.
Montreal police said the first drive-by shooting targeted a vehicle in the Rosemont—La Petite-Patrie borough at around 5 a.m.
A 41-year-old man was wounded in the upper body and taken to hospital, but police said his life was not in danger.
The second shooting occurred in the neighbouring Plateau—Mont-Royal borough a few minutes later, and the 58-year-old driver of the targeted vehicle was not injured.
Before the watchdog took over the crash investigation, Montreal police Const. Raphaël Bergeron said investigators were looking into whether the vehicle that struck the tree was used in the drive-by shootings.
The investigation into the shootings has been turned over to provincial police, due to the BEI investigation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2024.
The Canadian Press
