Avi Abargil, the son-in-law of Michael Moshe Mizrachi, who was killed in a shooting near a Chabad House in Montreal, recounted to ynet the family’s shock after receiving disturbing footage from the scene. “Friends from abroad sent us a horrifying video of the murder. You can see everything clearly. This is the worst, a child watching his father die,” he said. Abargil said he and his wife, Dvora, Mizrachi’s daughter, watched the video together at home, and that she “fell apart.”
Dvora had tried to reach her father repeatedly on the day of the shooting. According to Abargil, she usually spoke with him at least five times a day, but when he did not answer she did not yet know about the attack. Only later, when she called her brother Shlomi in Montreal, did she learn that Mizrachi had been at the scene. “She was upset and anxious. I dropped everything and went to her. Then messages started coming in from around the world saying he had been murdered,” he said.
The shooting took place in the Côte-des-Neiges district of Montreal, an area with a large Jewish population. Canadian reports said the attacker, who was neutralized, left behind a roughly 100-page manifesto tied to Incel ideology, which weakened suspicions of an antisemitic motive. Mizrachi was apparently shot by a police officer after being mistaken for the gunman. He remained at the scene for hours despite severe injuries and later died of his wounds.
Abargil said the family initially received conflicting reports that Mizrachi had been killed, while others claimed he was still alive and hospitalized. “We all came home and started praying, reciting Psalms, and asking for a complete recovery,” he said. Official confirmation arrived only at 1 a.m., when the family understood there was no chance of survival. Abargil described Mizrachi as a much-loved member of the Jewish community and a major giver to people in Israel and abroad. The family has contacted the religious council to fulfill Mizrachi’s wish to be buried in Israel. He was also defined as a terror victim, while Canadian police continue to investigate the circumstances. Abargil said Mizrachi had saved lives by telling Jews not to leave a supermarket and moving them away from the line of fire. He was due to turn 68 in two weeks and had planned to fly to Israel to celebrate with his family.
