2 dead in Montreal shooting

Police have made two arrests in a shooting that left two men dead in Montreal's St-Leonard district Tuesday afternoon.

The incident happened outside a wholesale food company owned by reputed mobster Agostino Cuntrera at around 4 p.m.

One man was found dead, lying on the sidewalk outside Distribution John & Dino, said police. Paramedics confirmed he had been shot in the head. Police said the 66-year-old was known to them.

A 45-year-old man died later at Montreal's Santa-Cabrini Hospital where he was being treated for gunshot wounds to the neck and abdomen.

"There were several shots fired," said Montreal police Const. Yannick Paradis.

Soon after the shooting, police tracked down a black Chevrolet Impala, which had reportedly been seen fleeing the scene.

Two men inside were taken into custody, police confirmed.

Cuntrera is reputed to have taken over the helm of the Montreal Mafia following the arrest of Vito Rizzuto.

Police refused to confirm whether Cuntrera was one of the victims.

Rizzuto, the reputed head of the Montreal Mafia, is currently in a medium-security prison in Colorado, serving a 10-year sentence for a racketeering conviction related to three murders in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1981.

In December, Rizzuto's son Nick Rizzuto Jr. was gunned down in broad daylight in Montreal's Notre-Dame-de-Grâce district.

Last month, police said they believed another key member of the Rizzuto clan, Paolo Renda, had been abducted.

Renda's wife reported him missing after she found his Infiniti sedan parked on a street in Montreal's Cartierville district. The car was unlocked, with its windows rolled down and keys in the ignition.

Organized crime experts have speculated that the recent incidents could be the result of a power struggle between rival clans.