Car attacks, senseless murders, fires that destroy everything in their path: the year 2023 will be marked by several terrible tragedies that will remain etched in the collective memory for a long time. Here are the 10 most notable news stories from the last 12 months in the province.
1. Terror in the daycare center
The morning of February 8, 2023 will forever be remembered by Quebecers. What was supposed to be a Wednesday like any other turned into a nightmare when the driver of a city bus intentionally drove into a daycare center in the Sainte-Rose neighborhood of Laval. The large vehicle crashed through the storefront and partially crashed into the building, causing panic. Two children from the daycare center, Jacob, 4 years old, and Maëva, 5 years old, died during the tragedy and six others were injured.
Photo Joël Lemay / QMI Agency
The bus driver, Pierre Ny St-Amand, an uneventful employee well-liked by his colleagues, stripped naked after the collision and was held by witnesses until police arrived. The municipal employee faces nine charges, including two counts of premeditated murder. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 25.
Photo Pascal Girard, QMI Agency
2. Old Montreal massacre
In this heritage building in Old Montreal, most of the 22 people were fast asleep when the fire was deliberately set on the night of March 16. The flames quickly spread throughout the building, leaving several tenants trapped. Her final moments were terrible. One of the victims, Charlie Lacroix, 18, was even on the phone with 911 pleading for help when the death occurred.
Photo Erik Peters, QMI Agency
The number: 7 dead and 9 injured. The perpetrator of this fire – the deadliest in the metropolis in the last 48 years – has still not been arrested. In addition to the murder investigation, a parallel investigation is being carried out to determine whether there was any criminal negligence on the part of the building owner.
PHOTO SIDNEY DAGENAIS/AGENCE QMI
3. Crazy driver in Amqui
For a reason that remains a mystery, on the afternoon of March 13, Steeve Gagnon got into his vehicle and drove into the town center of Amqui in Bas-Saint-Laurent, where he intentionally plowed into about ten pedestrians. He killed three men between the ages of 41 and 73 and injured nine other people, including a one-year-old baby.
Photo Stevens LeBlanc / JOURNAL DE QUEBEC
A few hours before the car-ramming attack, Gagnon appeared frantic in a video posted to TikTok in which he made rambling remarks and addressed conspiracy theories about China and labor unions in particular. Steeve Gagnon, who faces 14 charges, including three for first-degree murder, is currently awaiting trial.
Photo Stevens LeBlanc / Stevens Leblanc
4. Devastating forest fires
A record was broken in the province in the spring and summer when 4.5 million hectares of forest were reduced to rubble, an area equivalent to almost 6.5 million football fields. There have never been such bad forest fires in Quebec. Despite the scale of the disaster, the authorities did not record any fatalities, but around 27,000 people had to evacuate their homes for several days.
PHOTO PROVIDED FOR VAT NEWS
While SOPFEU typically deals with two to three out-of-control wildfires per year, there have already been 193 in 2023. The vast majority of fires were caused by lightning, but one person was even arrested for intentionally lighting several in Chibougamau -Sector. Brian Paré, 37, agreed in November to plead guilty to 16 charges against him.
5. Female police officer killed in the line of duty
The entire police community and people of Quebec were shocked by the senseless murder of Sûreté du Québec police officer Maureen Breau on March 27 in Louiseville. The 42-year-old sergeant was intervening with Isaac Brouillard-Lessard when he allegedly grabbed a sword from his house before striking the policewoman with it. Injured in her neck, Maureen Breau fell down the stairs and shortly afterwards breathed her last.
TVA NEWS/QMI AGENCY
The 35-year-old suspect was shot dead by the police. Since 2019, Brouillard-Lessard has been found not criminally responsible for violent crimes five times and still posed a “significant risk to public safety,” according to the Mental Disorders Review Board.
Police Officer Maureen Breau PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE SÛRETÉ DU QUÉBEC
6. An influential gangster was eliminated
The murder of kingpin Gregory Woolley in front of his wife and four-day-old newborn on November 17 in a commercial parking lot in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu shook Quebec's underworld. Gregory Woolley, 51, had risen to the top of organized crime in Quebec since the late 1980s. He had close ties to the mafia as well as the Hells Angels and street gangs.
PHOTO MAXIME DELAND/AGENCE QMI
At the time of his murder, he was undoubtedly one of the five most influential and powerful gangsters in the province. Both the perpetrator and his instigator have still not been arrested.
Gregory Woolley PHOTO MAXIME DELAND/AGENCE QMI
7. Cruel end for a little skier
Her name was Lily and she wanted to be an elite skier like her father. Her life ended abruptly on the morning of January 29th as she took her second ski lesson of the winter at the Val Saint-Côme ski resort. While trying to get out of a ski lift at the request of her ski instructor, the 6-year-old girl got stuck and was dragged 540 meters by her coat hood before a staff member finally helped him.
Photo courtesy of the Leblanc family
Unfortunately, it was too late and the little girl died of suffocation. In her report, the coroner notes in particular that the station's basic safety rules and emergency procedures were completely ignored during the tragedy.
Photo courtesy of the Leblanc family
8. Twins killed by their father
Just two days after Ianik Lamontagne was arrested for criminal harassment of his ex-partner and then released pending further court proceedings, he decides to do the irretrievable. He killed his twin boys, Antoine and Tristan, when they were just three years old, then took his own life at his home in Notre-Dame-des-Prairies, near Joliette.
Facebook acquired by Facebook, Ianik Lamontagne
The 46-year-old cybersecurity expert was arrested for hiding microphones in his ex-partner's apartment and installing a GPS under her car. According to close friends, Ianik Lamontagne was suffering from severe depression at the time of the double infanticide.
PHOTO MARTIN ALARIE / QMI AGENCE
9. Family decimated in Lanaudière
Two adults and four children, including a baby just nine weeks old, died in horrific circumstances in Sainte-Julienne on the night of February 9th when their house suddenly caught fire. The small family inside was trapped and no one could evacuate the apartment on their own.
Photo Pascal Girard/AGENCE QMI
The searches carried out by the police in the rubble made it possible to find the charred bodies of the six members of this blended family. The victims are the parents aged 26 and 27 and four children aged 9 weeks, 2 years, 5 years and 8 years. It is believed that the cause of this tragic fire was accidental.
PHOTO MAXIME DELAND/AGENCE QMI
10. A corpse in the shredder
The murder of Santiago Gaona is of indescribable horror. To this day it is unclear why this 26-year-old reggae singer was murdered on September 17th in a residential building in Contrecoeur. His body was then transported to Quebec before being subjected to a shredding machine in a tree trimmer's yard. Santiago Gaona had no criminal history.
PHOTO MAXIME DELAND/AGENCE QMI
Three suspects were quickly arrested in a car in the Mohawk area of Kahnawake. 31-year-old François Bouchard was charged with premeditated murder, while his two alleged accomplices were subsequently charged with complicity. The trio also faces a charge of insulting a corpse. Her trial is expected to take place in 2024.