Three weeks after a family was caught in the crossfire between police officers and an armed suspect in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Que., — with father and son now in hospital — the victims say they feel abandoned by police and social services.
Sirin El Jundi told reporters over the weekend that her husband and son were treated by police like suspects, despite acting “heroically” to protect their family from harm. She said police still won’t tell her who shot them.
“My husband and my son were almost killed by bullets fired by unknown weapons,” El Jundi said at a news conference Sunday in their backyard in Montreal’s West Island. “Handcuffed, abandoned right here on the ground for almost an hour. They could have bled to death.”
“We don’t feel safe here anymore … We’re still in shock,” she said.
The family had just returned from a camping trip Aug. 4, and were unloading their car when the suspect, 26-year-old Nackeal Hickey, ran up to them holding a handgun and demanding the keys to their vehicle.
A gunfight began almost immediately as police officers who were pursuing Hickey arrived and the suspect turned and fired at them. Between the suspect and the police, as many as 40 shots may have been fired.
Houssam Abdallah was hit with five bullets and his son, Abdel-Rahman Abdallah, was shot in the back.
Abdallah had his fourth surgery in three weeks Sunday, with a fifth to be scheduled soon, said Jana Abdallah, Abdallah and El Jundi’s daughter, who witnessed the shooting.
“It’s chaos, traumatizing,” she said.
She says her family needs to know who fired the shots that hit her father and brother and why they were treated like suspects during and after the shoot-out.
‘Inhumane’ system
El Jundi says Quebec’s Crime Victims Assistance Centres (CAVAC), which offers support to victims of crime, such as help with filing paperwork for financial compensation, advised her to raise funds in her own community to make up for the time she and her husband have been off work.
“I’m not a beggar,” said El Jundi, who added it made her feel “cheap.”
Her daughter called the process “inhumane” and said the systems in place to help victims have failed the family.
“Not only can I not solely focus on my father and my brother’s wellbeing, I have to focus on filling out paperwork, on fighting for my rights, on repeating the same story over and over,” she said.
Marie-Christine Villeneuve, a spokesperson for CAVAC, said it’s not normal practice for employees to advise people to raise funds themselves, but could not speak to the specific conversation El Jundi had with one of CAVAC’s employees.
“What we can do is tell them about their rights and where they can go,” she said.
“There is no doubt that this family is a victim of the shooting.… We ensure that they can find openness, listening and support from the CAVAC to go through this difficult time.”
The family is still waiting for their request for compensation to be processed by the Indemnisation des victimes d’actes criminels (IVAC), which provides financial compensation for victims. CAVAC typically helps people file their claims with IVAC.
El Jundi also accused Quebec police and the police watchdog of being opaque. She said she was told it could take up to a year for the investigation to conclude and that once over, she may not be given all the information that was gathered.
CBC News reached out to Montreal police and the BEI, but both declined to comment.