Police watchdog to probe whether Quebec City police acted too slowly to prevent fatal attack

Quebec's police watchdog announced Friday that it will be investigating the circumstances leading up to the death of Jacques Côté, 65, who was stabbed to death outside his home in the small Quebec City suburb of Lac–Saint-Charles Wednesday afternoon.

Eyewitnesses told Radio-Canada that Côté was attacked on the street after trying to calm down his neighbour who was acting aggressively and appeared to be in crisis.

Kim Lebel, 30, was charged with second-degree murder at an appearance by video conference in Quebec court Thursday.

That same day, Lebel's parents sent a letter to Public Security Minister Geneviève Guilbault through their lawyer, one-time justice minister Marc Bellemare, who said the parents had warned Quebec City police about their son's worsening state of mental health two days before the attack.

According to Radio-Canada, Kim Lebel suffered from mental health problems, had become aggressive and angry and refused to take his medication.

The letter said Daniel Lebel had called police on Monday, two days before the attack, to say his son was showing "worrisome signs of mental health deficiencies'' and needed to be placed in a psychiatric hospital.

"Two police officers went to Kim Lebel's house," reads the letter, "and after speaking with him, they decided not to intervene further, despite the parents' pleading."

On Wednesday, Lebel's parents obtained a written order from a judge requiring their son to undergo a psychological evaluation.

They said when they went to a Quebec City police station that same day to insist the order be enforced, police didn't appear to sense the urgency, telling the parents a team would be sent later.

In their letter, the parents said they were "stupefied" when, on their way home from the police station, they came across their son attacking someone on the ground. Kim Lebel was restrained by his father until emergency crews arrived.

"The victim was found dead on site with serious marks of violence on his body," David Poitras, a spokesperson for Quebec City police, told Radio-Canada Wednesday.

Importance of acting quickly

Quebec City social worker Julie Belleau, the interim director of La Boussole — an organization that supports the families and friends of people battling mental health issues — said when someone asks for help because they feel a loved one poses a threat, it's important to act quickly.

"Usually these are the kind of requests for help that we make a priority," she said. "It is often an emergency."

Belleau says La Boussole helps clients fill out legal forms requesting psychiatric evaluation and supports them throughout the process. Bound by confidentiality, she cannot say whether her organization worked with the Lebel family, although Radio-Canada has reported it did.

On Friday, the Quebec police service (SPVQ) issued a statement to say it contacted the police watchdog, the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI), on Thursday after learning of the SPVQ's prior involvement with Lebel's parents.

The BEI initially left the investigation in the hands of the SPVQ, the statement said. But on Friday, the BEI issued a news release to say it was launching an independent investigation, "in light of new, recently obtained information."

Provincial police will be investigating the circumstances surrounding Côté's death, and four BEI investigators will be looking into how Quebec City police handled Lebel's parents' concerns and the evaluation of Lebel's mental state.

Both the BEI and the SPVQ said because the case is now before the courts, they would not provide any further comment.