Coroner issues report into ‘avoidable’ killings of Quebec police officer, assailant [Video]

The deaths of a provincial police sergeant and the mentally ill man who fatally stabbed her were avoidable, a Quebec coroner has concluded, saying health-care workers and police should have communicated better.

Géhane Kamel’s report, released Monday, includes 38 recommendations for various health, public security and law enforcement groups 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 being shot dead by police in his apartment building in Louiseville, Que., about 100 kilometres northeast of Montreal. Brouillard Lessard, 35, suffered from schizoaffective disorder and was killed while police were attempting to arrest him for uttering threats to a family member and breaking probation.

The coroner’s inquest heard of numerous failings in the assessment and supervision of Brouillard Lessard, who had been found not criminally responsible because of …