Montreal community mourns 18-year-old cyclist killed in hit-and-run; driver still at large

Montreal's community is mourning an 18-year-old killed in a hit-and-run. CBC reported on November 3 that Isaac Larivée was cycling to school around midday on October 30 in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough when he was struck at the intersection of Jeanne-Mance Street and Henri-Bourassa Boulevard West and pronounced dead at the scene. Larivée was a student at Collège Ahuntsic and a Junior AAA hockey player with the Braves de Ahuntsic. (Cover photo is a file photo of cycling in Montreal, not the scene.)

Stolen car at high speed; driver fled on foot

According to Montreal police, the driver was travelling at high speed on Jeanne-Mance Street when he struck Larivée head-on as the cyclist crossed the intersection, then abandoned the car a few blocks away and fled on foot; the vehicle was a stolen Honda Civic. Quebec's police watchdog, the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes, says the vehicle had been pursued by an unmarked Sûreté du Québec patrol car that tried to pull it over for a traffic violation. As of November 2, the driver had not been apprehended.

Two investigations; sticks and flowers at the scene

The watchdog has assigned six investigators to examine the circumstances of the provincial police intervention, including the attempted stop and the pursuit that followed; Montreal police have opened a parallel criminal investigation into the hit-and-run. A makeshift memorial quickly appeared at the crash site, with teammates and friends leaving hockey sticks, flowers and handwritten notes. The City of Montreal offered condolences and confirmed that a fatal collision response team would visit the site to study what changes might be needed, though any decisions would wait until the police investigation concludes.