Citizens and police gather to honour victims of Montreal shooting

Montrealers gathered on June 24 to honour the two victims killed during Monday's deadly shooting in Côte-des-Neiges. Separate ceremonies were held for police officer Mohamed Lamine Benredouane and civilian Michael Mizrahi. The funeral for Michel Mizrahi, 68, was held at Paperman & Sons funeral home. The ceremony was attended by more than 100 people, including Mizrahi's friends from the Jewish community as well as Côte-des-Neiges mayor Stéphanie Valenzuela. A funeral prayer for Mohamed Lamine Benredouane, the 34-year-old police officer killed in the attack, was announced to be private. A second civic ceremony will be held in two weeks, according to the SVPM.

Benredouane, an officer with the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal, was honoured by colleagues, elected officials and members of law enforcement agencies from across Quebec. Police vehicles lined roadways as officers participated in a formal procession recognizing a man colleagues described as dedicated to public service. The procession began at the Mosque where the prayer for Benredouane was held and travelled to Laval for the burial. Benredouane joined the force in 2021 and was responding to reports of an armed suspect when he was fatally wounded. His death marked the first line-of-duty death of a Montreal police officer since 2002. This is the second time a Canadian police officer has been killed in the line of duty in the last two weeks. On June 11, a Toronto police officer was killed while investigating reports of a gunshot.

During the ceremony, speakers focused on Benredouane's commitment to policing, his devotion to his family and the sacrifice he made while responding to a dangerous situation. Benredouane left behind a wife and a three-year-old child, according to a GoFundMe set up by his family. Fellow officers stood shoulder to shoulder in dress uniforms as tributes highlighted his professionalism and sense of duty. Several police organizations from outside Montreal also participated in the memorial. Public officials in attendance emphasized the risks officers face while responding to emergency calls and expressed condolences to Benredouane's family, including his wife and child.

Mizrahi ‘larger than life'

At the funeral for Michel Mizrahi, hundreds of people from the Jewish community came to show their support. Mizrahi's nephew, Marcus Mizrahi spoke at the ceremony. He described his uncle as ‘larger than life' and spoke about how giving nature. Mizrahi's nephew told a story describing how Mizrahi dressed his son for his bar mitzvah. Michel Mizrahi owned a tailoring business, which his nephew described as ‘more than just a job'. At the end of his speech, Mizrahi tearfully kissed the black cloth covering his uncle's coffin.

Rabbi Mendel Raskin, Mizrahi's rabbi for 30 years at the Beth Chabad synagogue in Côte Saint-Luc, also spoke at the ceremony. Raskin shared accounts of Mizrahi's final moments. According to Raskin, Mizrahi helped guide others away from the scene of the shooting before his death.

Benredouane ‘an extraordinary father'

Hours before the prayer near the mosque on June 24, CBC spoke with Benredouane's older cousin, Nadir Ahcene Djaballah. Djaballah said that he and Benredouane were neighbours back in Algeria, and that Benredouane came from a large, notable family. Djaballah revealed that Benredouane had a twin brother and that there is a community in mourning back home in Algeria. Djabbalah described Benredouane as a happy, smiling boy back in Algeria and was quoted as saying that he only has good memories of the deceased officer.

There were no media members present at the private ceremony. In videos circulating online, mourners can be seen outside the Islamic Centre of Quebec, standing shoulder to shoulder in long rows to pray and honour Benredouane's memory.