By Montreal Gazette,Paul Cherry

Copyright montrealgazette

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Article contentMarion Bauer, who manages the Oxford Learning centre located just a few metres away from the scene of the shooting, said she looked outside and saw police walking around with guns drawn.Article content“We were in the building and we didn’t hear or see anything until police arrived, and then lots of police cars blocking different entrances and exits, and officers walking around with shields,” she said. “It was scary.Article content“It’s intimidating to see police officers walking around (with weapons out). We’re anxious to get home and see our families.”Article contentPolice asked people in Starbucks and other nearby business to stay so they could be interviewed. Bauer said she was waiting for a lift home because police would not allow her to remove her car from the parking lot, since it was an active crime scene.Article contentJust before 3 p.m., a man said he had dropped his mother off at a health clinic nearby and was still waiting for her.Article contentAdvertisement 3Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Article content Laval police interview witnesses after a shooting at a Starbucks Oct. 1, 2025. Photo by Pierre Obendrauf /Montreal GazetteArticle contentArticle contentConvicted drug trafficker among those shotArticle contentTheologou, reportedly known by the nickname “Bobby the Greek,” was sentenced to a five-year prison term in 2010 after he pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge and several counts of drug trafficking. On that same day in 2010, he also pleaded guilty to violating previous court orders that he not possess weapons.Article contentHe was part of a drug-trafficking ring that operated in métro stations, downtown and in the southwestern part of Montreal. When arrests were made in 2009, police said the network operated independently of organized crime groups.Article contentTheologou, 40, had no criminal record following his arrest in the 2009 case.Article content “My police experience tells me this seems to be related to organized crime,” Quebec Public Security Minister Ian Lafrenière said after a shooting at a Laval Starbucks Oct. 1, 2025. Photo by Pierre Obendrauf /Montreal GazetteArticle contentA Laval resident who declined to provide his name told The Gazette on Wednesday that he knew Theologou, who lives in the city’s Chomedey district.Article content“It’s not just me. Everyone knows him in Laval and everyone is afraid of him,” the man said. “He’s no small man.”Article contentAdvertisement 4Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Article contentThe resident added that he was “not surprised by what happened. But I’m sad, because it’s a human being, but he chose his path.”Article contentQuebec ministers monitoring situation closelyArticle contentWednesday afternoon, Quebec Public Security Minister Ian Lafrenière said the information he has on the shootings was limited.Article content“What I am told is there were no innocent victims in the Starbucks. Am I concerned? The answer is yes. My police experience tells me this seems to be related to organized crime,” he said in Quebec City.Article content“I’m not happy to see a crime committed in plain daytime, in a place full of people. It looks like organized crime.”Article content Laval police at the scene of shooting at a Starbucks Oct. 1, 2025. Photo by Pierre Obendrauf /Montreal GazetteArticle contentHe said Longueuil and Quebec City police have also conducted operations in recent days.Article content“What I am saying is police are maintaining huge pressure on organized crime. Believe me this is far from being over.”Article contentSkeete said his government is making law and order a priority, but also tried to offer reassurances to people concerned about crime.Advertisement 2This advertisement has not loaded yet.

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Article content“I would still remind Quebecers that we still live in a relatively safe place. That there’s no need to be overly concerned about what happened there … but it does point to the case that organized crime does need to be addressed and that we need to look at it straight in the eye,” he said.Article content‘Unacceptable,’ says Laval mayorArticle contentAt a news conference later in the day, Stéphane Boyer, the mayor of Laval, called the shooting “absolutely unacceptable.”Article content“My thoughts are with the customers and employees who were there,” he said. “We understand that such an event can affect the public’s sense of security. Over the years we’ve managed to cut firearm incidents and attempted murders in Laval by half, but this shows we must remain vigilant.”Article contentPierre Brochet, the Laval police chief, said the attack was “shocking and intolerable.”Article content“Shot in broad daylight in a commercial district of Laval — these are unacceptable actions that will not be tolerated,” he told reporters. “Our officers are fully mobilized. We will step up patrols and increase pressure on organized crime in the coming days.”Article contentAdvertisement 5Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Article contentBrochet declined to confirm reports that a machine gun had been used but said organized crime in the region was rapidly evolving.Article contentAsked about the stability of the underworld in Montreal and Laval, he said: “What we’ve seen in recent years is a rapid evolution and change in organized crime.Article content“So it’s our ability to adapt that’s important, and that’s what we’re managing to do, especially since collaboration becomes essential at this time.”Article contentQuebec has witnessed a sharp rise in street gangs, according to Antonio Nicaso, an organized crime expert at Queen’s University. He said this has been fuelled by the easy flow of firearms from the United States and cocaine shipments from Colombia via Mexican cartels.Article content“When the leader of one of these gangs is killed, retaliation is almost inevitable. The problem is compounded by the high concentration of gangs in Laval’s Chomedey neighborhood, and the increasing difficulty of maintaining territorial control.”Article content Laval police at the scene of shooting at a Starbucks Oct. 1, 2025. Preliminary reports indicated three people were injured in the shooting, one of them seriously. Photo by Pierre Obendrauf /Montreal GazetteArticle content Laval police responded to a shooting Oct. 1, 2025, at a Starbucks that left one person dead and two injured. Photo by Pierre Obendrauf /Montreal GazetteArticle contentAdvertisement 3This advertisement has not loaded yet.

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