Man who fired shots during police intervention found not criminally responsible

Julien Giard was suffering from a serious mental health problem when he had a brief standoff with police in January, a Quebec Court judge declared.

Author of the article:

Paul Cherry • Montreal Gazette

Published Sep 20, 2023 • 2 minute read

Giard had been charged with committing an assault on a peace officer and three firearm-related offences. Photo by Allen McInnis /Montreal Gazette files

A man who was arrested in January after he fired off a series of shots during a Montreal police intervention was declared not criminally responsible for his actions on Wednesday.

On Jan. 22, the mother of Julien Giard, now 49, contacted the Montreal police and reported that her son suffered from schizophrenia and that his behaviour had recently changed. She said he had not slept for days, was talking to himself and used furniture to barricade the doors to her home. According to a police report filed in the case, she reported that he was depressed and aggressive.

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When two police officers arrived early that morning at the home on St-Zotique St. in Rosemont, they didn’t heard any sounds as they approached the residence, but noticed several items were blocking the entrance. The front door was locked, and one police officer decided to break it with a telescopic baton to gain entry in an effort to make sure Giard’s mother was okay.

The police officers reported hearing a shot fired after they broke the door. They spotted Giard inside the kitchen before hearing a second detonation. One of the officers then spotted a firearm in Giard’s hands.

Meanwhile, Giard’s mother managed to escape by a back door and told two other police officers that her son was inside.

Minutes after police first arrived, Giard walked out of the home with his hands empty. He asked the police officers if anyone had died and seemed relieved when they said no.

He was arrested, and while being interrogated, claimed he became upset after seeing a woman who was eight months pregnant consume fentanyl at a drug addiction centre he worked at. But he also claimed he had recently taken a photo of the devil.

He was charged with committing an assault on a peace officer and three firearm-related offences.

On Wednesday, a Quebec Court judge declared Giard not criminally responsible for his actions after being presented with a mental health evaluation that determined he suffered from a serious mental health problem at the time of the shooting and did not have a grip on reality.

“The victim of delusional perceptions of a paranoiac illness, the gentleman was convinced that malicious people had come to attack him as well as his mother, which is why, in a gesture which he believed to be self-defence, he fired in the direction of those he believed to be his attackers and not police officers,” the author of the evaluation wrote. “He explained that he never had the idea of hurting anyone, which is corroborated by his reaction when the police officer confirmed that there were no deaths or injuries.”

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