Fatal fire in Old Montreal | The owner’s vehicle was also set on fire

The vehicle of Émile Benamor, the owner of the building destroyed by an arson in Old Montreal on October 4, was in turn set on fire by an unidentified suspect in front of his home in Dorval on the night of Wednesday in THURSDAY. This new attack comes a week after the arrest of two individuals who riddled Mr. Benamor’s office with bullets.

Around 3 a.m., several calls were made to 911 regarding a vehicle on fire in an upscale area of ​​Dorval.

“The vehicle was still on fire when the police arrived on site, the flames were extinguished by the firefighters,” explains officer Véronique Dubuc, spokesperson for the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM).

No one was hurt. A can of gasoline was observed on site by the police.

“According to the first information available, a suspect used an accelerant to set the vehicle on fire and fled before the police arrived,” explains Officer Dubuc.

On the night of October 4, a building in Émile Benamor was destroyed by arson. A mother and her seven-year-old daughter were killed in the blaze. Two suspects have been arrested and charged with murder in this case. The theory favored by the investigators links the event to an attempted extortion of the restaurateur who rents premises on the ground floor of Mr. Benamor’s building.

Then, on the night of October 8 to 9, Mr. Benamor’s office was riddled with bullets. Three suspects were arrested. According to our sources, the preferred theory to explain these shootings would be an attempt at diversion to divert attention from the acts of extortion committed by gangs against restaurateurs in the city center.

Another of Mr. Benamor’s buildings was destroyed by an arson in 2023 on Place d’Youville, killing seven people. The Press revealed that the main suspect in this case, a murderer who had escaped from the penitentiary, had been hired to do odd jobs at this address shortly before the crime.