Deaths of provincial police officer, assailant were ‘avoidable’: Quebec coroner
In her report released Monday, Géhane Kamel issued 38 recommendations for various government departments and organizations in connection with the deaths of Sgt. Maureen Breau and Isaac Brouillard Lessard.
A Quebec coroner has determined that the deaths of a provincial police sergeant and the mentally ill man who fatally stabbed her could have been prevented.
In a report released Monday, Géhane Kamel made 38 recommendations to various government departments and organizations in connection with the deaths of Sgt. Maureen Breau and Isaac Brouillard Lessard.
On March 27, 2023, Brouillard Lessard fatally stabbed Breau with a kitchen knife and seriously injured another officer before police shot and killed him in his apartment building in Louiseville, Que., about 100 kilometres northeast of Montreal.
Brouillard Lessard, 35, who had schizoaffective disorder, was killed while police were attempting to arrest him for making threats to a family member and violating probation.
The coroner's investigation revealed multiple shortcomings in the assessment and supervision of Brouillard Lessard, who had been found not criminally responsible due to mental illness five times for offences committed in 2014 and 2018.
Kamel concluded that the lack of communication between mental health officials and police about Brouillard Lessard's care contributed to both his death and that of Breau, a 42-year-old mother of two with over 20 years of policing experience.
