Fatal fire in Old Montreal | Owner’s office riddled with bullets

The office of Émile Benamor, owner of the Old Montreal building ravaged by an arson last week, was riddled with bullets during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday. Three suspects were quickly arrested by police in connection with the shootings.

This attack comes less than a week after the death of a mother and her seven-year-old daughter in a fire in Mr. Benamor’s building on rue Notre-Dame.

The SPVM confirms having received several calls to 9-1-1 for gunshots around 11:50 p.m. Arriving in front of Émile Benamor’s office, on rue Berri near rue Saint-Antoine, the police noticed approximately one twenty projectile impacts on the facade.

A small white truck fled the scene, according to Véronique Dubuc, spokesperson for the SPVM. Patrol officers first tried to intercept him, at the corner of René-Lévesque Boulevard and Sanguinet Street, but the driver took off and fled. The police finally managed to intercept him, at the corner of avenue de l’Hôtel-de-Ville and rue de Boisbriand.

“Three men aged 17, 19 and 20 were arrested,” said the spokesperson.

“A firearm was found in the vehicle,” she adds. According to our information, it is a handgun.

L’avocat de M. Benamor, M^e Alexandre Bergevin, assured The Press that his client has never been a victim of extortion and that he does not know who may have targeted his office.

The Press revealed that the favored theory to explain last week’s arson is an extortion maneuver against a restaurateur who rented premises on the ground floor of Mr. Benamor’s building. Three criminal groups are currently competing to impose a protection tax on downtown establishments.

For the drama at the Place d’Youville building, in Old Montreal, in March 2023, SPVM investigators concluded their investigation last June and handed over their file to the prosecutors of the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP ), who must now take a position on the filing of criminal charges.

In the case of last Friday’s fire on rue Notre-Dame, no one was arrested, but the building’s surveillance cameras show a hooded individual who appears to throw a Molotov cocktail into the window of the restaurant located on the ground floor. on the ground floor, just before the place caught fire.

According to several police sources, it is the Arab Power organization which could be at the origin of this crime. This group would take advantage of the debt of traders and restaurateurs caused by the pandemic to carry out extortion, players in the restaurant sector said with concern.

No one has yet been charged in connection with these two fatal fires.

“An exemplary citizen”

In an interview on Tuesday, before the gunshots targeting Mr. Benamor’s office, his lawyer affirmed that the owner was not targeted by the arsonists who set fire to two of his buildings, and that he has nothing to blame itself for the security of its buildings, despite the death of nine people.

“He is an exemplary citizen, who systematically corrected the non-compliances that were reported to him,” maintains M.^e Bergevin.

“It’s just an unfortunate coincidence” that two of his buildings burned down due to arson, he assures. For the Place d’Youville building, “we were victims of a sociopath,” adds the lawyer.

He affirms that Émile Benamor does not fear being accused of criminal negligence in connection with these tragedies.

The owner was criticized in particular because of the presence of apartments without windows in his two buildings.

After the disastrous fire at Place d’Youville in 2023, the Montreal Fire Safety Service (SIM) found several security flaws in Émile Benamor’s building on Notre-Dame Street, which housed a youth hostel of 20 rooms, Le 402. We particularly deplored the absence of smoke alarms and an alarm system, but these problems were subsequently resolved, confirmed the SIM.

The owner also received tickets in August 2023 for violations in another of his buildings, on Prince Street, in Old Montreal.

The building also houses a youth hostel, the Chambres du petit prince, which has 27 units, opened last August and operated by the same two owners as the one on rue Notre-Dame, Neir Abissidan and Robert Sebbag.

M^e Bergevin explains that the building was empty when the SIM issued its infraction reports. The owner was waiting for his permit from the City of Montreal to carry out transformation work in preparation for the opening of the inn.

He insisted on showing the places to The Press to show that all safety standards were respected and that there was an employee at reception, as required by municipal regulations.