Two shot dead in Montreal spree

21-year-old apprehended, motive unclear

MONTREAL • The violence came at a frenetic pace Sunday: two homicides, three shootings, a pair of carjackings and a high-speed pursuit that took police from eastend Montreal to a shopping mall in suburban Brossard.

Police allege Frédérick Gingras, 21, fatally gunned down a 49-year-old woman outside a service station in the city’s east end, stole her Jeep and crashed it before stealing another vehicle at gunpoint half an hour later.

Investigators are trying to determine if the suspect has any connection to a homicide reported a few minutes before the gas station shooting.

Police found a 20-year-old shot to death in an apartment about two kilometres southwest of the service station at around 11 p.m. Sunday. The motive in both killings is unclear, but one police source says officers found drugs at the apartment.

“There was a frenzied quality to the crimes,” said the source. “It’s possible the person who did this was on amphetamines or something very strong.”

As police arrived at the first crime scene, witnesses at the gas station say they saw a man bear down on the 49-year-old’s car and open fire. Sources say the victim was at the gas station to pick up her daughter from work.

The man drove away with the victim’s vehicle, a Jeep SUV. He lost control of the truck just two kilometres south, skidding over a median and shattering a lamppost outside a church.

He fled the scene on foot before arriving at a home on a quiet street. There, witnesses say he forced his way into a 64-year-old man’s house by firing a bullet through the front door and wounding the victim.

One witness, the victim’s neighbour, said he was watching television when he heard a car alarm, followed by a crash and the screeching of truck tires. When he looked out the window, he saw someone speed away with his neighbour’s Ford Escape.

“That’s when I knew something was wrong, so I put my boots on and ran next door,” said the man, who did not want his name published. "My neighbour was lying on the ground, bleeding from a wound on his foot and ribs.

“Nothing ever happens here, it’s all retired people and elderly people,” he said. “It was crazy. You can still see the bullet hole through the door.”

Police located the stolen car and gave chase but the suspect evaded officers as he sped toward the LouisHippolyte-Lafontaine Tunnel. Within minutes, Sûreté du Québec patrol officers spotted the car in a ditch by the intersection of Highways 10 and 30 in Brossard. The vehicle was empty.

Finally, Longueuil police nabbed a 21-year-old suspect near the stolen car.

Gingras is to appear in court on Tuesday.