Owner shot inside Peel St. boutique clothing store
Shop had been firebombed one year ago
Nina Fainman-Adelman was strolling down Peel St. just before noon on Monday when she spotted something unusual on the sidewalk — a long gun.
“I thought it was a prop or a toy,” the 24-year-old McGill University student said. “I took a picture of it and was about to pick it up.”
Within seconds, the street was swarming with police officers who ushered Fainman-Adelman away from the crime scene.
A few minutes earlier, a gunman had entered an upscale men’s clothing store and fired a shot at Tony Elian, the owner of the boutique, which had been targeted by a firebombing this time last year.
The shooting occurred at the Giorgio Gruppo Roma boutique across from the Cours Mont Royal shopping complex at about 11:45 a.m. Police said a masked man entered the store and fired once at the victim. Elian, who is in his 60s, was shot in the lower body. He was taken to hospital, but police do not fear for his life.
Montreal police spokesperson Caroline Chèvrefils said witnesses told police the suspect, who was wearing a fluorescent construction vest, dropped the gun on the sidewalk and fled into the shopping mall.
Fainman-Adelman had just left class and was on her way to her job at the Douglas Hospital when she made the discovery.
“I was on the phone with my friend and I told her that everything looked normal, but there is a gun on the street,” she recalled.
Fainman-Adelman said she didn’t hear any noise coming from the clothing store or hear any cries for help.
On March 8, 2017, the same establishment was targeted by a firebomb that caused water damage after its detonation triggered the store’s sprinkler system.
After the firebombing, Elian told the CBC he didn’t know why his business was targeted. He said he knew former crime boss Vito Rizzuto and gang leader Ducharme Joseph because they were both clients. He was also spotted at Rizzuto’s funeral.
An employee at Restaurant Alexandre said no one in the restaurant heard anything unusual at the time of the shooting next door. She said Elian is a customer of the bistro on Peel St.