Parents of man who killed Quebec officer wanted son hospitalized, inquest hears

The parents of a Quebec man who killed a provincial police sergeant last March had tried to get him forcibly hospitalized in the days leading up to the attack because of how seriously his mental health had deteriorated.

Those details came to light on Monday during the opening day of a coroner's inquest into the deaths of Sûreté du Québec Sgt. Maureen Breau and Isaac Brouillard Lessard, who was shot dead by police moments after he stabbed Breau with a kitchen knife.

Breau was killed on March 27 while trying to arrest Brouillard Lessard, who had a history of mental health problems, in Louiseville, Que., about 100 kilometres northeast of Montreal.

She and three other officers were dispatched to the suspect's apartment at about 8:30 p.m., after he had allegedly uttered threats and broken probation. Another officer was seriously injured in the knife attack.

Two responding provincial police officers shot the 35-year-old 19 times. He died near the front door of his apartment.

Breau was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead just after 11 p.m.

On Monday, the coroner's inquiry heard that Brouillard Lessard had been sending threatening texts and making phone calls to his mother three days before the attack.

Patrick Michaud, an investigator with Quebec's independent police watchdog — the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI) — testified about the spate of messages, as well as other texts between the mother and a relative in whom she confided that her son was in psychosis.

"If he calls, you can call the police," the mother texted to a family member. "He's living in Louiseville and he doesn't have money to get around, so no worries."

His mother and father both called 911 on March 24 to have their son arrested and forcibly hospitalized. That night, four officers paid a visit to Brouillard Lessard's apartment — two of them would be back for the deadly encounter three days later.

Michaud said the officers didn't arrest Brouillard Lessard on March 24; the man was calm and admitted to making the threats. The investigator testified that police had determined they did not have reason to arrest him.

Brouillard Lessard continued making threats against his mother, and his father called 911 less than an hour after the visit to complain that police had not arrested his son.

Michaud noted in his testimony that between March 24 and March 27, Brouillard Lessard tried to call his mother 43 times and sent her 481 text messages.

On March 27, the day of the fatal stabbing, an uncle called police to report that Brouillard Lessard had made threats.