Gargantua bar attack
Gargantua bar attack | |
---|---|
Location | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
Coordinates | 45°32′28″N 73°35′56″W / 45.5411595°N 73.5988091°W |
Date | January 21, 1975 |
Attack type | Arson, shooting |
Deaths | 13 |
Injured | 0 |
Perpetrators | Richard Blass |
The Gargantua bar attack was a shooting and
, Canada on January 21, 1975, killing 13 individuals, including the manager. The Gargantua, which had been known for being a meeting place for underworld figures, was previously the scene of a double-shooting killing of two criminals in October 1974.During the attack, the Gargantua's manager, believed to having been a witness to the preceding shooting, was shot and killed. The remaining 12 individuals succumbed to
Background
Located on 1369
On October 30, 1974, two armed men entered the Gargantua and fatally shot 30-year-old Raymond Laurin and 28-year-old Roger Levesque. One week prior to the shooting, suspects Richard Blass and his accomplice Roger Roussel had escaped from[5] the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul penitentiary,[6] which Blass had been serving a 15-year sentence for attempted murder and armed robbery.[7] The victims, Laurin and Levesque, had a prior criminal association with the suspects,[8] and were implicated in a crime together in 1969.[3] Roussel would later be recaptured.[9]
Attack
On January 21, 1975, two individuals entered the Gargantua and held 13 individuals,[2] ten men and three women,[10] at gunpoint.[2] According to a police reconstruction conducted shortly after the attack,[11] the perpetrators fatally shot 43-year-old Rejean Fortin,[5][11][8] the Gargantua's manager and a former Montreal police officer.[9] Additionally, 29-year-old customer Pierre Lamarche was shot in the stomach,[5][11] wounding him.[9] The remaining victims, along with Fortin's body and the injured Lamarche,[5] were herded into a storage closet measuring 6 by 8 feet.[12][5][3] The closet door was padlocked and barricaded by pushing a jukebox against it,[10][5] and the perpetrators set fire to the establishment.[2]
The bodies of the victims were discovered by firemen at the scene
Investigation and legal proceedings
Immediately following the attack, authorities began investigating its potential connection to the October 30, 1974 shooting of Laurin and Levesque.[3] Despite lacking concrete evidence, investigators suspected the involvement of Blass in the attack,[11][5] suspecting his motive being to target Fortin as a witness to the earlier shooting,[3][8] with the other victims being killed to eliminate witnesses to Fortin's shooting.[9][4] The search for Blass, who became the prime suspect in the attack, intensified, with a coroner's warrant being issued for his arrest.[14][9]
In the early hours of January 24, 1975,[9] three days after the attack,[15] authorities shot and killed Blass in Val-David, located in the Laurentian Mountains.[16][17] Acting on a tip, they surrounded a chalet around 4:30 am,[9] and Blass was reportedly shot after responding to police orders with gunfire,[4] though this has been disputed several decades later.[18][19] Authorities additionally apprehended a man and two women at the scene, and ruled out the suspected motive of eliminating witnesses.[9]
In early February, a reliable source testified and indicated involvement of more than one gunman in the attack.
See also
- List of fires in Canada
- Blue Bird Café fire, another arson-related attack at a Montreal nightclub in 1972
References
- ^ "Ce 21 janvier 1975". Dépoussiéreuse de crimes (in French). 25 May 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
- ^ a b c d "Incendie au bar Gargantua". Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal (in French). Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Gargantua massacre: A Canadian horror story". The Daily Colonist. 22 January 1975. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ a b c "Canadian Convict Slain". The New York Times. 26 January 1975. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g "POLICE IN MONTREAL THEORIZE ON DEATHS". The New York Times. 23 January 1975. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ Venne, Jean-François (1 January 2018). "Le côté sombre de la métropole". La Presse+ (in French). Retrieved 10 February 2024.
- ISBN 978-0-8184-0514-3. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ ISBN 0771008775. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j ""Weasel" killed by police trying to reach arsenal". Dixon Evening Telegraph. 24 January 1975. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ a b c d Borders, William (22 January 1975). "13 Killed in Montreal Bar, Apparently Gang Victims". The New York Times. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "Montreal Mass Murderers Sought". Circleville Herald. 22 January 1975. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ "High-profile cases of mass or multiple murders in Canada". The Globe and Mail. 9 April 2006. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ a b Lane & Gregg 2004, p. 131.
- ^ a b Lane & Gregg 2004, p. 132.
- ^ Library, Toronto Star (23 April 2018). "A history of violence on Canadian soil". Toronto Star. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
- ^ "Albert Lisacek, 1933-2012". Macleans.ca. 19 December 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ "Arson Suspect Killed in Canada". International Herald Tribune. 25–26 January 1975. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- Montreal Gazette. Archived from the originalon March 3, 2013. Retrieved December 2, 2012.
- ^ Hustak, Alan (30 November 2012). "Montreal tough guy Albert Lisacek was a hard-boiled cop from a bygone era". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
- ^ "Gargantua murders termed an 'error'". The Daily Colonist. 4 February 1975. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ a b c Kowch, Steve; Noel, Albert (6 February 1975). "Richard Blass linked to slayings". The Gazette. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ "Witness cited in club deaths". The Daily Colonist. 6 February 1975. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- ^ a b c Collister, Eddie (14 March 1975). "'Death warrant' freedom granted Gargantua suspect". The Gazette. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
Bibliography
- Lane, Brian; Gregg, Wilfred (2004). The encyclopedia of mass murder. New York: Carroll & Graf. ISBN 978-0-7867-1356-1. Retrieved August 19, 2023.