The dark series of arson attacks continues in the metropolis. At dawn on Sunday, it was a hair salon’s turn while a Molotov cocktail was fired inside. No one was injured, the fire was brought under control and an investigation by the Montreal Police Department was launched.
Posted at 9:39 am. Updated at 9:39 am
Just before 4am on Sunday, the police were called to intervene at Studio 3, a hairdressing salon for men and women on rue Chabanel Ouest, between rue Meilleur and avenue du Parc in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville district.
Firefighters were able to bring the flames under control quickly. Then, on site, they determined the presence of an incendiary object and traces of an accelerating product. The investigation was therefore immediately turned over to the arson unit of the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM).
According to agent Véronique Dubuc, spokeswoman for the SPVM, it was “a Molotov cocktail that would have been thrown through a window inside the store”. Fortunately, however, no one was injured because the facility was closed at the time of the crime and nobody was in it.
“We are talking about minor damage to the building. There are currently no arrests. “Investigators will be on site today to analyze the crime scene,” Ms. Dubuc said.
Video recordings from surveillance cameras could also be viewed by the investigators to provide information about the course of events.
A phenomenon on the rise
This new arson attack mirrors the series of arson attacks in Montreal in recent weeks. La Presse announced on Friday that more than one fire a day had been lit in the metropolis in May. Some companies have been hit two or even three times in a row. In May alone, 16 arson attacks were set in 11 days, an average of 1.6 per day.
As of May 11, Montreal police recorded 220 arson attacks, compared to 130 in the first quarter of 2022. Last year, the tally of 220 arson attacks was reached by the end of the first week of July; 2023 is about eight weeks ahead of 2022.
Earlier, last Friday, three men aged 18 to 38 had been arrested and charged in connection with arson attacks in the Lasalle, Saint-Laurent and Saint-Léonard districts in recent days.
According to our information, the head of the SPVM, Fady Dagher, is to address this issue, among other things, as part of a press conference scheduled for Monday, at which he must “report on his first 100 days at the helm of the organization”.
Note: This surge in arson could be related to conflicts between organized crime groups, attempts at extortion or even disputes between networks of vehicle thieves, La Presse had reported in recent days.
“Often the suspects are vulnerable people who have been offered drugs or a sum of money and set the company on fire without knowing why,” explained SPVM specialist investigator and head of the arson section, Karine Paquette .