One killed, one injured in morning shooting at Laval park

A 17-year-old boy is dead and another person was wounded by a shooting just after midnight on Thursday morning in Laval’s Vimont sector.

Laval police said the shooting happened about 12:15 a.m. Several residents called police to report they heard shots fired in the area of Parc-école des Explorateurs, an elementary school at the corner of Bédard St. and St-elzéar Blvd. E.

Officers working at a nearby community police station arrived at the scene within three minutes of receiving the call and found the 17-year-old on the ground and critically injured. The other shooting victim, a young adult, was suffering from non-life-threatening injuries. Both were taken to a hospital and the 17-year-old was declared dead about 90 minutes later.

In the hours after the shooting, the playground and the yard in front of the school were cordoned off. Police were collecting evidence in the park, located across from a daycare centre, and knocking on the doors of neighbours to ask if they had witnessed anything.

Local resident Daniel Ferland walked over to watch the scene unfold in front of the elementary school.

He said the neighbourhood is always quiet, so it was a surprise to hear two people had been shot there.

“A friend sent me a link to a report about the shooting, and I said, ‘Wait a minute, I know these streets. That’s my school,’” Ferland said Thursday morning. “I decided to come and see what was happening.”

I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some drug dealing happening here.

Ferland, 22, attended grades 3 to 6 at the school. He said he still walks by the area almost nightly, and often sees teenagers gathering. He said they often play basketball in the schoolyard or just hang out and talk.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some drug dealing happening here,” Ferland said. “But it’s always quiet and peaceful. I’ve never seen a brawl. It’s crazy to hear about (the shooting). I’m wondering how the hell they got a hold of a gun.”

Laval police said neither shooting victim was known to them for any criminal activity. They added that preliminary findings indicated more shots were fired than those that struck the victims.

Dolores Deschamps, who lives next to the park, said she heard what she thought were fireworks overnight.

“We often hear those kinds of explosions, and they’re usually fireworks being set off in the area,” Deschamps said.

She said she was surprised to learn someone had been shot and killed in the park.

“There’s always young people here, like at any other school, but we’ve been here for 46 years and this is the first time we’ve seen anything like this,” said Deschamps, who was sitting on a swing in front of her home.

“Young people are here, and they’re always playing ball, or talking among themselves,” she said. “There’s never any trouble. But they’re here until late at night usually, and it’s dark in that yard. We can hear them, but we can’t see them.”