côte-des-neiges residents and workers ‘still in shock’ the day after shootings

twenty-four hours after the deadly shootings in côte-des-neiges on monday, resident arie baazov was wheeling a suitcase away from the site of the incident.his apartment is directly above the spot where a police officer, a civilian and a gunman were killed in a shootout at midday monday. he said he’s going to stay with his parents for a few days because police broke his door down while looking for the shooter inside the commercial and residential building that also houses a juice bar and the parent company of pornhub.“it's like a once-in-a-lifetime surreal situation,” he said in an interview. “you never think (it will happen), especially in montreal."

nearby residents and retail workers were still in a state of shock on tuesday in the normally quiet residential neighbourhood.roads in the area surrounding the crime scene were still closed tuesday, along décarie blvd. between plamondon ave. and the viaduct north of mackenzie st.westbury green, the complex next to the site of the incident, still had broken windows and was blocked by police tape. building residents reported that their cars were locked in the garage and that they had no way to access or retrieve them as police carry out the investigation.

the shooter has since been identified by the quebec coroner as seth hatfield, 25, from lethbridge, alta. there is still much unknown about the motivations behind the shooting, but hatfield had a 104-page manifesto signalling hatred toward women, zionists and other groups.côte-des-neiges is a multiethnic neighbourhood where many jews live side by side with other ethnicities.michel mizrahi, the civilian who was killed, was a member of the jewish community. one of mizrahi’s neighbours, michel, who shared only his first name, remembered him as “a really nice guy.”“he would help me out sometimes,” michel said, recalling that the rabbi at their synagogue recently gave him a tie, saying it was a gift from mizrahi.michel was in his apartment building as the shooting unfolded and placed a 911 call at 11:39 a.m. monday.annabelle aroas, a c.d.n. resident who frequently dog-sits for her brother in an apartment across from the place where the incident happened, said the whole area still felt “eerie” tuesday amid the heavy police presence and police tape.“it's so fresh,” aroas said while walking a dog. “it just feels weird. it feels eerie to know what just happened.”

at the nearby supermarché pa westbury, store manager gobi nadarajah said he’s “glad to be alive.”when he received a call from security about an active shooter, he rushed to lock the front entrance of the grocery store and direct staff and clients to hide in the back. moments later, he heard the gunshots begin.“i saw numerous other clients coming in that were stuck outside” who banged on the door to escape from the shooter, nadarajah said in an interview tuesday. he rushed away from the safety of the back area to let them in, saying their safety was his top priority.he says he counted about 100 staff and customers in total in the grocery store, who were locked down for nearly five hours.“it's something that you read and watch on the news, thinking to yourself, ‘it's not going to happen here.’ but once it happens, you say, ‘ok, anything is possible,’” he added.a bouquet of flowers had been left outside the local police station by tuesday evening. société de transport de montréal’s special constables honoured the fallen officer by parking their cars at the station, their lights on in tribute.police had also reopened the square where the shooting took place come evening. at least three heavily damaged cars remained on site. one storefront was smashed in, with several bullet holes visible in one window. curious onlookers wandered around the parking lot, documenting the damage as they walked across shattered glass. some came to leave behind flowers and light small candles next to handwritten notes. “a little light dispels much darkness,” one note read. 

mayor offers support to neighbourhood residents

montreal mayor soraya martinez ferrada and stéphanie valenzuela, côte-des-neiges—notre-dame-de-grâce borough mayor, toured the neighbourhoood tuesday morning, meeting with affected residents and merchants.the two mayors said they met with many people who were unable to go to work tuesday morning. some were still afraid to leave their homes or do their usual errands, they said.“there is a lot of pain right now that everyone is sharing. people are still in shock,” an emotional valenzuela said, noting that the shooting happened in a busy sector with stores, restaurants and residential units.“it’s a place where people live, and it’s right outside their homes, so they will live and relive what happened yesterday,” she added. “it’s very difficult.”valenzuela said the montreal police officer who died in the shooting, const. mohamed lamine benredouane, went to school in the neighbourhood and was well-known by many.“you have someone that grew up in the neighbourhood and decided to serve his community in the way that he did, by ultimately losing his life,” valenzuela said. “it was an act of heroism that i can’t highlight further.”martinez ferrada said the city and borough will be making services available to anyone who needs support in the coming weeks.jesse feith of the gazette contributed to this report.