A man was brutally beaten with punches and kicks in front of several witnesses who did not intervene on Sunday evening in the Montreal metro.
Images of the attack, broadcast Monday on the Instagram account mtl_storiesare causing a huge reaction on social networks. They had also been seen by almost 400,000 people and shared more than 8,900 times as of Monday afternoon.
“It’s so sad that we have become this society, we see things and do nothing to help, except film,” laments one Internet user.
The violent attack occurred late Sunday evening, around 10:30 p.m., in a Montreal metro car, at the Berri-UQAM station.
On the video, it is difficult to establish the context of the beating.
All we see is a man cowering on the ground, taking a hail of kicks and punches to the body and head. The suspect also appears to spit on him at one point.
All around, no one intervenes to put an end to the aggression. A man and a woman seem to want to reason with the attacker and prevent him from attacking his victim, but without much success. All the other witnesses to the scene remain seated in their seats or standing, motionless.
“Hey stop! Stop! Stop, stop!” shouts a woman who witnesses the scene, while another does nothing, apart from filming the attack.
-The motive for the attack remains a mystery. “Next time, you’re not going to talk like that!”, the suspect tells his victim before leaving the car.
According to our information, absolutely no one saw fit to call 911 either during or after the fight.
Rather, it was an employee of the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), who notified the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) of the situation on Monday noon, after seeing the video of the attack on the networks social.
Monday afternoon, the SPVM confirmed that a criminal investigation was underway and that steps were being taken to trace the suspect and the victim in this case.
“We do not know the context of this attack, but, obviously, we strongly condemn it,” immediately indicated Amélie Régis, spokesperson for the STM.
“Moreover, we contacted the SPVM as soon as we became aware of this video and we are collaborating with the police in their investigation. When customers witness such a violent incident, they can contact 911, but also the train operator using the intercom in the metro cars,” added Ms. Régis.
People who have information about this event are invited to contact Info-Crime at 514 393-1133.
