Canadian #35 Dies
A man has died and several officers were injured after police were
called to a rooming house in Montreal where they deployed a Taser.
Quebec provincial police said 41-year-old Donald
Ménard died following an altercation with police on Monday
evening (November 11, 2013). Police received a call about 5:30 p.m. ET on Monday night about a
woman suffering from a possible drug overdose at a rooming house near the
corner of St-André and Ontario streets. Police said that at the scene Ménard appeared to be
intoxicated and that he attacked an officer, who ended up losing a
tooth. "They tried to find the woman, and there was a lot of people,
aggressive people, inside the place and also intoxicated people,"
said Const. Simon Delorme. Ménard disappeared from the Pinel Institute, a Montreal psychiatric
hospital, on Nov. 10 and provincial police had been searching for him since
then.
Several officers were injured while trying to restrain the
man. "One man, strongly intoxicated, started to be very
aggressive and combative with the police officer. He hit a police officer in
the face." According to Radio-Canada, CBC's French service, the officers resorted
to using a Taser after they tried to use batons and pepper spray to subdue
the man.
Radio-Canada reported that the man refused to be transported to
hospital, but eventually lost consciousness.
Ménard was taken to hospital in critical condition and later
pronounced dead.
The woman who police were originally called to help was treated in
hospital and is expected to recover, and four officers were treated in the
hospital for minor injuries.
Quebec provincial police are investigating.
