Father of man who killed Quebec officer says mentally ill son fell through the cracks

MONTREAL — The father of a Quebec man who killed a provincial police officer last year says he had hoped his son would have been arrested and hospitalized before he could hurt someone.

Serge Brouillard told a coroner’s inquest today he had expected a complaint filed with police by another family member would have gotten his son the help he needed.

On March 27, provincial police Sgt. Maureen Breau and three other officers showed up to Isaac Brouillard Lessard’s apartment to arrest him for uttering threats and for breaking probation.

The 35-year-old stabbed Breau to death and seriously injured her partner at the home in Louiseville, Que., about 100 kilometres northeast of Montreal, and he was shot dead by police moments later.

Serge Brouillard described his son as an intelligent lover of nature who played high-level soccer as a youth and was always ready to help others around him.

But Brouillard says his son also suffered from mental illness and that the 35-year-old fell through the cracks in the health system.

Coroner Géhane Kamel told the father today that since the beginning of the inquiry, at least six families have written to her to say they sympathized with him and were dealing with a similar situation. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 22, 2024.

The Canadian Press