After being mistakenly suspected of being a terrorist and after difficult hours without any information about his fate, which his family and the community of the Chabad House 'Mada' - a Hebrew-speaking center - endured, the Montreal police confirmed the difficult news: Michael Mizrahi was killed by a policewoman's gun and his body remained in the closed scene for hours.
The shooting incident occurred last night (Monday) near the Chabad House. The Chabad emissary, Rabbi Chaim Shlomo Cohen, said with pain that Michael, an Israeli who had moved to live in the neighborhood, was a member of the Chabad House community and was loved by everyone.
During the shooting attack, which targeted police officers, Michael was shot by a policewoman, after being mistakenly suspected of being one of the shooters.
Although he was very seriously injured, he was left at the scene and died of his wounds.
For many hours, the Montreal police sealed off the area and did not allow his family members and Chabad emissaries to receive information, which led to conflicting rumors regarding his fate, until the difficult and bitter official news was received.
During these hours, Chabad emissaries, together with family members, are handling the release procedures for burial, which will likely take place in Israel.
Moishe Balch, a ZAKA volunteer from the international unit and a resident of Montreal, who was at the scene, said: "Those were long hours of uncertainty. I walked around the scene with the deceased's son and among the various parties to understand what had happened to the father. Only after a long time did we receive official confirmation that he had been killed at the scene.
""We are now accompanying the family, and when entry to the scene is permitted, ZAKA's international unit teams will enter the scene, collect the findings, and treat the deceased with dignity in accordance with Jewish law.""
Baruch Nidam, Director of the International Division at ZAKA: "Michael's family members contacted us and we are accompanying and assisting them. Two of his daughters live in Israel (the northern and Sharon regions), and another child lives in Canada with him. The members of the International Division at ZAKA are with them in these difficult moments and stand by them in whatever is necessary.".
