The Quebec drug war is still in full swing, and a lot of the violence is taking place in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region of the province. It’s no wonder, since one of Canada’s most wanted criminals, All Boivin, is running drugs through the region. Saguenay’s very own kingpin. Needless to say, Saguenay was the target of a hectic week. First, a man was shot while taking refuge in a grocery store in the Laterriere sector. A hit brought on by the recent flurry of events. Only a couple of days later, a suspect vehicle had shot at a residence in the Shipshaw sector of Saguenay.
L’Intermarche Shooting
Shots rang out in an unlikely place towards 9:45am on Saturday (15/03/2015) morning at a grocery store near the Saguenay intersection of Notre-Dame and Du Boulevard in the Laterriere borough of the city. Two shots were fired in the parking lot. A little after, two more shots rang out near the entrance of the ‘L’Intermarche’ grocery store. The suspect? Already in the midst of fleeing. The victim? Shot and wounded. Police hadn’t hesitated to interview witnesses and gather information on the possible shooter.
The suspects had been waiting for the victim in a sedan in the parking lot of the grocery store. Two shots rang out outside of the establishment, which is when the victim took refuge in the grocery store. According to a witness, an innocent civilian stood in the way, between the shooter and the victim, which made the gunman hesitate. Giving the victim time to turn his body, ever so slightly in a way that one of the gunshots would hit him in the side instead of the vitals. Giving the victim time to hide inside the supermarket. Two last shots would ring out before the shooter would flee the scene.
The victim was rushed to a hospital in Chicoutimi, once emergency services arrived. It is unknown how many shots he took, but we can confirm at least he was shot twice. The victim was from Laterriere. He was deemed in critical condition upon his arrival to the hospital, but is now in a stable condition. The Saguenay Police Service (SPS) confirmed the event was in relation to the Quebec Drug War. The grocery store has nothing to do with the drug war, with the owner of the joint reassuring the clients, noting that this event was unusual. Even going as far to recommending a psychologist to one of the clients who had witnessed the scene.
The SPS managed to track the suspects down soon after, in a sedan during a traffic stop. Two out-of-towners were arrested in the latter event. 44-year-old Pascal Laliberte, of Mirabel and 19-year-old Albert Lefebvre of Saint-Jerome are facing charges of attempted murder and aggravated assault.
Shipshaw Shooting
Another shooting would occur, less than 24 hours later, but this time in the Shipshaw borough of Saguenay. Bullets hit the outer walls of a residence, a home, located on Route Saint-Leonard towards 7:45am on Monday (17/03/2025) morning. It is unknown whether this incident was in relation to the L’Intermarche shooting which occurred on Saturday, but authorities have confirmed these stray bullets had been fired in relation to the Quebec Drug War. Nobody was injured.
The shots were fired from a moving vehicle, a faint-hearted drive-by. The SPS found the suspect vehicle abandoned, a little while after the shooting. Multiple checkpoints had been established soon after the news of this event, with police surveilling both Route 172 & 175, in hopes of finding the culprits. No suspects have been apprehended.
There is no doubt that organized crime in Saguenay has been stirring as much as organized crime in Quebec City. Saguenay is nothing like Quebec City, and even less like Montreal. It’s a small city, but the crimes committed in relation to the drug war are as big as the crimes previously committed in the Capitale Nationale region of even the Chaudieres Appalaches. Saguenay citizens are distraught. Not knowing how to handle the increase of recent gang violence. The fact that the perpetrators of the crimes hail from Montreal and its surrounding regions makes it worse, Literally bringing city-like violence to the small towns.
