This is Salim Touaibi, arrested Monday mid-morning. The latter must appear during the followingnoon to answer a charge of first degree murder and four others of attempted murder.
The 26-year-old accused was arrested at a provincial detention center where he was being held in connection with another criminal case.
Salim Touaibi was indeed already known to police circles for offenses committed in 2017, 2019 and 2022 relating to the illegal possession of a firearm and narcotics. He was awaiting sentencing in one of these cases when he was arrested.
According to the SPVM commander in charge of the investigation, Salvatore Serrao, Salim Touaibi participated actively
to the murder of Meriem Boundaoui. The officer, however, did not specify whether it was precisely he who would have fired on the teenager, insofar as the suspect did not act alone on the evening of the murder.
For major crime investigators, this arrest is the culmination of more than a year of tireless work.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante reacted to the arrest via Twitter: Congratulations to the SPVM, which apprehended a suspect in connection with the murder of Meriem Boundaoui. Rest assured that we are working hard to keep Montreal safe and prevent crimes like this. And our efforts are bearing fruit.
Meriem Boundaoui, an uneventful teenager, was killed on the evening of February 7, 2021 at the corner of rue Valdombre and rue Jean-Talon. She had found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time, between the shooter and his target. His death had raised indignation and had reacted several elected officials.
The young woman was sitting in a car parked at the edge of the street with other young people when she was fatally hit by projectiles fired from a car which had approached the group. A man on the sidewalk was also injured.
The SPVM also reiterated at a press conference that young Meriem had nothing to do with the events that led to this shooting.
With information from Pascal Robidas
