By Joel Ceausu
The Suburban
A week after a 27-year-old man was shot in NDG in broad daylight, some area residents are concerned about such a crime occurring so close to home while others are more sanguine.
The shooting occurred near two daycares in NDG on May 29. Montreal police responded to reports of gunfire just before noon and found the 27-year-old victim on Montclair near Fielding. The man was with a woman when approached by another man who struck him and shot twice, with one bullet striking him in the lower body. The suspect fled on foot and the victim was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. No arrests were made as of press time.
It was the latest in a string of violent events in that area, including a homicide in 2022, and reports of assaults and fights in the years prior and since. The Suburban asked two men standing on the corner on Saturday morning if they were present during the shooting and what they felt about it all. “What difference does it make?” asked one, while the other laughed.
The area is certainly not a “boring uneventful” stretch of NDG, laughed local resident Kelly. “Trouble doesn’t usually find you if you mind your business.” She says residents know there’s a lot of alcohol and drug consumption taking place outside during the day and serious drug activity indoors as well, with police occasionally seen, usually during an active operation. “It’s pretty lax when there’s no crisis. This might not even have to do with any of that, but it kicks up concern for sure.”
When Holden was young, he remembers “scary Walkley” was “the place you don’t go. Today people are on that same street at any hour of the day. It’s uncomfortable someone was shot so close to home,” he said, but maintains “we live in a very safe neighbourhood.”
Mikael, whose child attends one of the local daycares, said he was shocked by the brazenness of the shooting. “Even if this is a kind of depressed rough area, we don’t fear for safety, it’s just drugs. But this was different. Bullets flying? In daytime?” The truck mechanic said he is making other arrangements for his son until he and his wife can move their child to another daycare. “It’s not a game, if they use guns then children are not safe.”
Kelly added she always watches her back “because of junkies in the area, and now I need to watch for something worse, maybe.”
According to the SPVM there were 96 reported shootings in Montreal last year, down 25 percent from the year before but a 10 percent hike over the five-year average. Homicides and attempted murders were also down in 2023, by 50 percent and 18.2 percent, respectively. There were 469 crimes against persons last year where firearms were present. In 2023 police recovered 1,079 firearms through seizure or voluntary surrender. n