Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was deeply shocked by the shooting in Montreal that left a Jewish resident, Michael Moshe Mizrahi, and a local police officer dead. In a statement on Monday evening, Carney said he was thinking of the victims, their families, first responders and the Côte-des-Neiges Jewish community, and thanked the officers who responded to the scene.
After official confirmation of Mizrahi’s death, ZAKA’s international unit began working with local authorities at the request of his family in Israel to arrange the release of his body and its burial in Israel. Moishi Blech, a ZAKA volunteer from Montreal who was at the scene, said the family faced “hours of uncertainty” before receiving confirmation that Mizrahi had been killed.
Blech said ZAKA is now supporting the family and will enter the scene once permitted to collect remains and handle the deceased with dignity according to Jewish law. Rabbi Chaim Shlomo Cohen, a Chabad emissary and head of the local Chabad house, said the shooting happened “a street” from the center while they were preparing hot meals for thousands of Jews.
The shooting took place in Montreal’s Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood, a major hub for the city’s Jewish and Haredi communities, including synagogues, yeshivas, kosher restaurants and a central kosher supermarket. Reports said Mizrahi, a member of the local Chabad community and the Hebrew-speaking center, was mistakenly shot by a police officer during an exchange of fire with the assailant. Police said one suspect was neutralized at the scene, and the initial investigation indicates a criminal incident rather than a terror attack. Large security forces remained in the area and conducted a wide manhunt for the shooter.
