MONTREAL 鈥� The killing of a 28-year-old man in Montreal's Saint-Laurent borough on Friday night brings the number of homicides on Montreal island in 2022 to 41, the highest number in 15 years.
Police say the man was shot in the upper body around 8 p.m. and was transported to hospital where he died.
Police spokeswoman Mariane Allaire Morin says the motive behind the slaying remains unknown, but the victim had a criminal record and was known to police.聽
Police statistics show the last time more than 40 homicides were recorded on Montreal Island -- whose 15 municipalities including the City of Montreal are served by a single police force -- was in 2007, when 42 were reported.
The city averaged 29 homicides a year between 2012 and 2022, including 36 in 2021.聽
Statistics Canada says the greater Montreal region had a murder rate of 1.11 per 100,000 people in 2021. Among census metropolitan areas with more than 300,000 people, only the Ottawa-Gatineau region, Quebec City and the Kitchener - Cambridge - Waterloo area had lower rates.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 31, 2022.
The Canadian Press
