Man knifed as he’s freed from jail

MONTREAL • A 24-year-old man who was enjoying his first moments of freedom from an Ontario provincial jail was the victim of a surprise knife attack yesterday.

The victim had just been released from a Montreal detention centre shortly after 10 a.m. when he was stabbed. He had been serving time at the detention centre, formerly known as the Bordeaux jail, for not paying fines he received for municipal infractions.

Officials did not say how long the man had been behind bars. According to the police, the stabbing victim has no known ties to organized crime.

“He was waiting at a bus stop near the prison when he was stabbed by a man who had pulled up in a red minivan. The man got out of the vehicle and stabbed the victim a few times. [The stabber] got back into the vehicle and fled in it,” said Constable Anie Lemieux of the Montreal police.

The victim, who was stabbed in the back and suffered a punctured lung, was taken to a hospital. He was reported to be in stable condition after surgery.

Because of his condition, investigators were unable to talk to the victim yesterday. Constable Lemieux said it was too soon to say whether he was attacked by someone who knew he was being released from prison at that moment.

Police do not have a description of the assailant. Investigators were trying to determine whether surveillance cameras at the detention centre recorded anything that might help their investigation.