Montreal

École Musulmane secondaire de Montréal damage under police investigation

Montreal police are investigating after windows were damaged at École Musulmane secondaire de Montréal, located on Cavendish Boulevard in NDG, sometime between Friday evening and Monday morning.

Police say holes in several school windows may have been caused by a pellet gun

Police were at the scene of Montreal Muslim Secondary School on Tuesday to investigate a possible hate crime. (Jennifer Choi/CBC)

Montreal police are investigating a possible "hate crime" after windows were damaged at a Muslim school sometime between Friday evening and Monday morning.

Police say it appears someone may have used a pellet gun to put holes in several windows at École Musulmane secondaire de Montréal, located on Cavendish Boulevard in the city's NDG neighbourhood.
Police say a pellet gun may have been used to put holes in the windows of Montreal Muslim Secondary School. (Jennifer Choi/CBC)

The building was closed over the weekend and no one was inside at the time. The school has about 100 students and was open for class on Tuesday.

Police say they will review the school's surveillance tape to see if they can find suspects and attempt to determine if the school was targeted because it's a Muslim school.

"We're looking at that possibility at this moment, if it is a hate crime, still to be determined but we're looking at that possibility," said Montreal police Const. Raphael Bergeron. 

Bergeron is asking anyone with information to come forward.

The Quebec Collective Against Islamphobia condemned what it called an act of "hate," saying fear-mongering in the media was partly to blame for increased anti-Muslim sentiment.

"It’s a further sign of a deteriorating social climate for Quebec’s Muslims," Adil Charkaoui, the group's coordinator, said in a statement.

The group called on all levels of government to help in the fight against Islamophobia.