Quebec’s provincial police service says a daylight shooting at a Laval Starbucks, north of Montreal, could have connections to organized crime.
Lieutenant Gregory Gomez del Prado told The Epoch Times that police were called out to the area, off Highway 400, around 10:35 a.m. on Oct. 1 for reports of gunshots.
He said officers found three individuals who had been injured at the scene and who were taken to hospital. One of the victims, a man in his 40s, has since died, Gomez del Prado said. The other two victims have non-life threatening injuries.
He also said the shooting was targeted at the three individuals.
Provincial police have taken over the case from Laval police, due to its suspected connections to organized crime, he said. No suspects have been identified or arrested.
Police are asking anyone with information to contact them.
Ian Lafrenière, the provincial safety minister, said that “all indications” pointed to the incident being connected to organized crime.
Lafrenière told reporters in Quebec City that according to information he had, none of the individuals who were shot were “innocent” victims.
Laval’s Mayor Stéphane Boyer said the shooting was “completely unacceptable.”
Boyer said that he had “complete confidence” in the police to find those responsible.
He added that the city was “a peaceful city” and that “this type of crime has no place in our city.”
Lafrenière said that police had recently been conducting operations around the province to put “pressure on organized crime.”
Leonardo Rizzuto’s law licence was suspended following his arrest.
He along with six other men have been charged with first degree murder in the 2011 death of alleged Montreal Mafia member Lorenzo Lopresti.
Police arrested the men in a joint operation between Montreal and Quebec provincial police. The men are alleged to have connections with the mafia, the Hells Angels, and street gangs.
The men are also alleged to have been involved in several murders and attempted murders between 2011 and 2021.
