Locals from Montreal neighbourhood struggling to process what happened after shooting

MONTREAL — Messages of sympathy and support poured into a multicultural Montreal neighbourhood on Tuesday, as locals reflected on a horrific shooting outside a hotel from one day earlier that left three people dead.

Stuart Nutik, who lives nearby and is a member of the Jewish community, said the neighbourhood was struggling to process what had happened.

The community is largely a residential neighbourhood that is home to a number of different cultural communities, mixed with some commercial businesses, restaurants, outdoor parks and recreational buildings.

But many locals appeared to be visibly shaken and emotional in the area near the shooting, as police maintained a perimeter around the crime scene.

“For the whole community this is not normal,” Nutik said. “It’s a tragedy. I hope God will give strength to the people involved.”

Nutik said he was at home when a neighbour warned him there was an active shooter near the synagogue he attends. Witnesses say they heard dozens of shots fired shortly before noon in the area on Monday.

“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “Thank God my friend told me, so I stayed home.”

Meantime, the investigation expanded to Lethbridge, Alta., where local police said they were assisting Quebec’s independent police watchdog.

Lethbridge resident Seth Scott Hatfield, 25, has been identified as the alleged shooter. His name was released by the Quebec coroner on Tuesday, a day after he allegedly exchanged gunfire with police outside the hotel in the Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood.

As well, Lethbridge police said they conducted a high-risk search on Tuesday at a home about two kilometres from University of Lethbridge, which said that Hatfield was a student in its philosophy department.

Quebec’s police watchdog is investigating the shooting, while Quebec provincial police have launched a parallel criminal probe.

Quebec provincial police Capt. Benoit Richard confirmed on Tuesday that weapons were seized in Montreal, but he didn’t elaborate. “They have been seized, we’ll see how they were used, if they were used,” he said.

The Quebec coroner also identified the two other people killed — police officer Mohamed Lamine Benredouane, 34, and Michel Mizrahi, 68, a well-known member of Montreal’s Jewish community, who was a bystander during the shooting.

Lia Gunthridge, said she was pushing her three-year-old son in a stroller near a playground in the park near where the shooting took place, when she heard gunshots.

“We like to go there to relax. It’s such a nice space,” she said. “But we left quickly when we saw the police. It didn’t seem safe.”

She returned Tuesday morning without her son to pay her respects to the victims.

“Knowing that such a tragedy took place so close to where I play with my child, it just feels too close,” she said.

Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada visited the Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood on Tuesday and said the shooting had resonated far beyond the city.

“It’s terrible what happened yesterday. I’ve received messages of sympathy and condolences from all over, from Canada, but also from outside Canada,” she told reporters. “This story has made headlines around the world.”

Martinez Ferrada said Montrealers should continue to feel safe in their city, while acknowledging concerns about online discourse and gun violence.

“We need to ensure that the city is safe, but we also need to keep an eye on social media,” she said, adding there is “a problem with the way people talk to each other on social media.”

Speaking alongside her, Stephanie Valenzuela, borough mayor of Montréal’s Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, fought back tears as she noted how the police officer who died had lost his life while trying to serve a community where he had grown up and gone to school.

“It was an act of heroism that I can’t highlight further,” she said. “I just want his family and his loved ones to know that we are with them and we mourn with them.”

Multiple Quebec media have reported that the gunman wrote a manifesto, which they said expressed hatred toward women and called for more violence. Léa Clermont-Dion, a Concordia University associate professor whose research focuses on antifeminist movements, said the document reflected ideas commonly associated with “incel” ideology.

Incel stands for “involuntary celibate,” a fringe internet subculture dominated largely by men who blame women and social structures for their lack of sexual or romantic relationships.

“It’s clear to me that this man would be considered an incel even if he doesn’t mention the term,” Clermont-Dion said.

Meanwhile, a police spokesperson in British Columbia has said police forces across that province were warned of the possibility of an anti-police manifesto linked to the Montreal shooting.

Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton with the Surrey Police Service said the information was issued Monday afternoon by an intelligence-sharing unit operating out of the RCMP B.C. headquarters.

RCMP spokesman Andrew DiRienzo said the police force routinely shares safety notices with officers at all levels.

DiRienzo said the notices issued Monday reminded officers “to approach calls with heightened awareness, request backup when required, support one another, and report concerns or suspicious activity through appropriate channels.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 23, 2026.

Charlotte Glorieux, The Canadian Press