Montreal Police Search Home Linked To Metro Smoke Bombings

CBC  |  Posted: 05/11/2012 12:28 pm Updated: 05/12/2012 11:38 am


Montreal police say they have arrested four people following Thursday's multiple smoke bombing attacks that shut down the city's metro system and stranded hundreds of thousands of people.


The four people turned themselves in to police late Thursday afternoon, accompanied by their lawyers.


Police questioned the four – three women and a man – to determine charges.


"That could be mischief, but we'll see what else it could be," said police Sgt. Ian Lafrenière.


He wouldn't confirm that they are the same people as those captured in eyewitness images, but said the four were wanted in connection with the smoke bomb incident at the Lionel-Groulx station.


Police are also mum on which police precinct the suspects turned themselves in.


"Which location, we'll keep that for ourselves," Lafrenière said. "I don't want a protest in front of the building."


Police aren't sure how many people overall may have been involved in Thursday's attacks, but are certain it is more than four.


"The three events took place simulaneously, so it's hard to believe the four same individuals would have committed that," Lafrenière said.


Three smoke bombs were set off at three separate metro stations at the height of Montreal's rush hour, forcing a complete shutdown of the underground commuter system.


Several hours later, police released images of the suspects captured by witnesses. The three women and one man were captured on camera inside metro cars.


On Friday, a former classmate of three of the suspects who spoke with CBC identified three of the people that appear in the photos.


Friday morning, police searched a home on Avenue Letourneux in the city's east end. They would only say a "police operation" was underway at the three storey apartment building and would not confirm it was connected to the smoke bomb attack.


Metro attacks condemned


However, according to Radio-Canada, the location being searched is linked to two of the suspects in Thursday's events.


Police have also not confirmed if the metro attacks were linked to the anti-tuition hike movement. The events were immediately condemned by provincial politicians and local public security officials.


Montreal police said several witnesses came forward after the metro shut down and offered information to investigators.


"I guess people were shocked about what happened yesterday," Sgt. Ian Lafrenière said. "A lot of people were touched by that – either they were stuck in the metro or stuck in traffic because yesterday morning, that was a nightmare in terms of traffic."


He said investigators have been working to confirm all the information that came in. But, investigators are revealing little about what they've learned so far.


"In police we say, 'We don't want to know, we want to prove it,'" he said. "So that's why we need more time."


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  • Montreal Metro Crippled By Attacks

    Photo: Myriam Lefebvre

  • Montreal Metro Crippled By Attacks

    Photo: Myriam Lefebvre

  • Montreal Metro Crippled By Attacks

    Photo: Myriam Lefebvre

  • Montreal Metro Crippled By Attacks

    Photo: Myriam Lefebvre

  • Montreal Metro Crippled By Attacks

    Photo: Catherine Levesque

  • Montreal Metro Crippled By Attacks

    Photo: Myriam Lefebvre

  • Montreal Metro Crippled By Attacks

    Photo: Myriam Lefebvre

  • Montreal Metro Crippled By Attacks

    Photo: Myriam Lefebvre

  • Montreal Metro Crippled By Attacks

    Photo: Myriam Lefebvre

  • Montreal Metro Crippled By Attacks

    The city scrambled buses to make-up for subway delays. Photo: Maxime Coutié/<a href="http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/Montreal/2012/05/10/002-metro-panne-verte.shtml" target="_hplink">radio-canada.ca</a>

  • Montreal Metro Crippled By Attacks

    Minister of Public Security, Robert Dutil, talks to media about the subway delays. Photo: <a href="http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/Montreal/2012/05/10/002-metro-panne-verte.shtml" target="_hplink">radio-canada.ca</a>

  • Montreal Metro Crippled By Attacks

    Photo: <a href="http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/Montreal/2012/05/10/002-metro-panne-verte.shtml" target="_hplink">radio-canada.ca</a>



Loading Slideshow...
  • Suspects At Lionel-Groulx Station?

    Witness photos of possible smoke bomb suspects (SPVM)

  • Suspects At Lionel-Groulx Station?

    Witness photos of possible smoke bomb suspects (SPVM)

  • Suspects At Lionel-Groulx Station?

    Witness photos of possible smoke bomb suspects (SPVM)

  • Suspects At Lionel-Groulx Station?

    Witness photos of possible smoke bomb suspects (SPVM)

  • Suspects At Lionel-Groulx Station?

    Witness photos of possible smoke bomb suspects (SPVM)

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Montreal police say they have arrested four people following Thursday's multiple smoke bombing attacks that shut down the city's metro system and stranded hundreds of thousands of people.
Montreal police say they have arrested four people following Thursday's multiple smoke bombing attacks that shut down the city's metro system and stranded hundreds of thousands of people.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
RocketPower
01:37 PM on 05/11/2012
Commence anti-supposedly-spoiled-student rantings in the comments. You'll all be back complaining when it's time to pay your kids' high tuition...

What they did was wrong, and freakin annoying, but this is what happens when the government thinks we're pliable plebs-in-training.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Stormlight
02:25 PM on 05/11/2012
What they did was an act of terrorism by unleashing a potentially unknown gas in a subway full of people. It may have been only a smoke bomb but if a panic started and people died because of it, or someone who has breathing problems inhaled it and choked, then they'd be up for murder.

If the students devoted this amount of time to actually helping their province out, or come up with some solid cost-cutting methods in their schools (or helping the province find ways to save) then chances are they'd bypass this whole tuition increase altogether (heck they'd probably come out ahead with help with their student loans).

Instead they're playing the anarchy card, screaming for their rights in a world that's financially crashing and burning. If I was Charest I'd take it all off the table and put the maximum increase starting next year. And if the violent protests kept up with damage being caused, i'd add a sub-tax onto the tuition it to pay for that damage.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
RocketPower
03:59 PM on 05/11/2012
I agree and I think that's what students are trying to do, but in any protest environment you are going to have a violent, disruptive fringe element and of course it is sensationalized by the mainstream media because they are vehicles to foment anger against dissenters. You will never have protests without idiots, because idiots like these are EVERYWHERE in every aspect of life, whether we like it or not.

So what angers me the most is people take the actions of a couple of morons and allow themselves to be convinced this is representative of the entire protest movement. This is exactly how people in power want you to think. It's such an easy trap.