Police fire at suspect in West Island chase, prompting investigation
Suspect shot in Galerie des Sources parking lot before leading police on Highway 40 chase
A 28-year-old man was shot by police in a West Island parking lot before leading them on a chase in a suspected stolen car, according to Quebec's police watchdog (BEI).
The man is in hospital for his injuries, which the BEI says are not life-threatening.
Police had taken the man to hospital for a drug-related issue earlier in the day, according to preliminary information released by the BEI.
It's after he was released that the man is suspected to have stolen a car, leading police an initial chase which was abandoned because it was too dangerous, spokesperson Martin Bonin-Charron said.
That night, Montreal police officers spotted the stolen car in a Dollard-des-Ormeaux restaurant parking lot and approached it on foot, thinking it was empty, he said.
Instead, the car charged at them before speeding off toward Highway 40, he said.
"That's when the police officers from the Montreal police corps, they reportedly fired at the vehicle but the vehicle managed to escape," Bonin-Charron said in an interview.
The pursuit began on the highway heading westbound, but the suspect took an abrupt turn, changing direction, he said. It's unclear if at any point the suspect drove in the wrong direction on the road.
The chase ended with police cruisers colliding with the suspect vehicle. Officers used stun guns "to get a hold of the man," Bonin-Charron said.
"That's when they found out that he had been wounded by a firearm earlier."
BEI investigators are still gathering evidence, Bonin-Charron said, but the highway has reopened after it was closed eastbound between Anciens-Combattants Boulevard and Sainte-Marie Road overnight.
The BEI investigates all incidents in which a person is injured or killed during a police operation.