Montreal officers in shooting not yet questioned

Provincial police investigators said Thursday they have not yet interviewed four Montreal police officers involved in a shooting two days earlier that ended in two deaths, including a bystander who was on his way to work.

Guy Lapointe, a spokesman for Sret du Qubec, said the four officers present during the fatal shooting would likely be interviewed sometime in the next few days.

He said it's normal to wait awhile before interviewing such witnesses.

"When you meet the major witnesses of a case, you want to be prepared, you want to know a bit of what might have happened and to be able to ask the right questions," he said.

Police were pursuing Mario Hamel, a homeless man who officers say was wielding a knife, through the downtown core on Tuesday when they fired, killing Hamel and Patrick Limoges, a 36-year-old hospital worker.

"Some officers were hospitalized, so that's also a factor," Lapointe said.

But Frank Phillips, who is withOntario's Special Investigations Unit, the civilian body that looks into allegations of police misconduct in that province, said when it comes to interviewing policeofficers involved in a fatal shooting, thesooner, the better.

"As an investigator myself the best evidence is the freshest evidence," he said.

Phillips said after a shooting in Ontario officers are designated as either subject or witness.Subject officers are those who pulled the trigger, while witness officers are others who were on the scene.

Although subject officers are not obliged to talk to investigators, Phillips said he would never waita few days to talk to them.

"We ask for an immediate interview, or certainly we want to do it within 24 hours."

AtQuebec's national assembly on Thursday,Public Security Minister Robert Dutil said he doubted the officers had thealternative to use Tasers.

"They don't have a lot of Tasers. You know, there's a big controversy on Tasers also, so the number was diminished in the past and their usewas restrained," said Dutil.

The head of Montreal's police brotherhood, Yves Francoeur, also defended the officers involved in a statement released Thursday.

"Last Tuesday morning's events in downtown Montreal are sad and exceptional," said Francoeur. "[But] these events sadly reflect the harsh reality that Montreal police face every day."

On Wednesday night, protesters left graffiti at the scene of the incident including a crude outline of a corpse and the words "killed by thepolice" in French.

Investigators closed off St-Denis Street between Ren Lvesque Boulevard and Ste-Catherine Street Thursday morningto continue reconstructingthe shooting.

"It's not unusual that we return to the scene. We have ballistic experts and technicians and their expertise will allow us to advance our investigation," Lapointe said Thursday.

He said investigators had also been approached by someone claiming to have more information about the incident, and investigators are trying to determine if the person's information is pertinent to the investigation.

Mother of victim speaks

In an interview withLa Presse newspaper Wednesday, Limoges's mothersaid that she and her ex-husband are in shock.

"You can't expect me to believe that four police officers aren't able to disarm a man with a knife. There's no logic in shooting bullets like that," said Johanne Rocheleau in an article in the French-language newspaper.

Hamel, the man police say was brandishing the knife, also died when officers opened fire.

Rocheleau, who lives in Trois-Rivires, Que., told the newspaper police officershad met with family members at the hospital to explain what happened.

"They told us it was the first time that this had happened," said Rocheleau.

Anotherincident

'You can't expect me to believe that four police officers aren't able to disarm a man with a knife.' Johanne Rocheleau, mother of shooting victim Patrick Limoges (La Presse newspaper)

There was an incident with a similar beginning but a different ending early Thursday in Montreal.

Police were called to theHochelaga-Maisonneuve district where a woman was on the street with a knife.

Police described her as unco-operative and used a Taseron her. She was taken to hospital with minor injuries.