17-year-old apprehended on Concordia’s Loyola campus
A teenager in a mental health crisis who fled the hospital was arrested on campus
A 17-year-old individual was arrested on Concordia University’s Loyola campus last Friday for allegedly assaulting a police officer.
Montreal police (SPVM) say they were called around 2 p.m. to assist after the teenager had left a hospital in a mental health crisis situation.
Officers located the 17-year-old about half an hour later in the quadrangle area of the Loyola campus and detained him.
“During the intervention, there was an assault committed on one of the police officers,” SPVM spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant said. “From there, the 17-year-old was arrested.”
The dramatic incident unfolded as several students and staff on campus watched.
Sources told The Link that they saw the teenager running into the quadrangle area being chased by two police officers, who then tackled him.
As he resisted being detained, several cops were seen restraining him on the ground while they waited for an ambulance.
“I was very concerned for him, especially, [since] he was shouting that he can't breathe,” Estella Walsh said, a Concordia student who was tabling an event in the quadrangle at the time.
“It was just a really long time of him shouting that he was hurting and like everyone holding him down,” Walsh said.
Paramedics from Urgences-santé took the teenager to a hospital. He is expected to undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Police say the Crown prosecutor will decide if the teenager will face any charges.
