HockeyFeed reported this morning that Isaac Larivée, an 18-year-old Braves de Ahuntsic player, was killed in a hit and run in Montreal.
The collision happened around midday Friday at the corner of Jeanne-Mance Street and Henri-Bourassa Boulevard West, in the Ahuntsic-Cartierville borough. Larivée was cycling near his school, Collège Ahuntsic, on what should have been a routine ride to class.
According to the report, the vehicle was travelling at high speed and was allegedly fleeing provincial police who had tried to pull it over for a traffic violation. Larivée was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver abandoned the vehicle, which turned out to be stolen, and ran off on foot. As of Monday, that person had not been apprehended.
A makeshift memorial appeared quickly at the crash site, with hockey sticks propped up among flowers and handwritten notes addressed to Isaac. Friends and teammates remembered him as someone who was always smiling, welcoming to everyone and full of promise.
At Collège Ahuntsic, the mood was heavy. First-year student Jason Madaeros, who didn't know Larivée personally, said the news hit him hard, because he rides his own bike to school in the summer and it could have been anyone.
Paul Vaillancourt, who lives on Jeanne-Mance Street and was home when the crash happened, called the situation "a catastrophe" and extended his sympathies to the Larivée family.
Investigations and questions about the intersection
Both Montreal police and Quebec's independent police oversight body, the Bureau des enquêtes indépendantes (BEI), have opened investigations. The BEI is examining the circumstances leading up to the crash, including the attempted stop by an unmarked Sûreté du Québec patrol car and the pursuit that followed.
Residents say they have worried about this corner for a long time. Jeanne-Mance is a one-way street heading south, and drivers must turn right onto Henri-Bourassa, but locals say many blow straight through, with no traffic lights or physical barriers to stop them.
Vaillancourt believes a median or some other structure should be in place. Neighbours were raising the problem before Friday, and that makes a physical barrier very hard to argue against now.
Magali Bebronne, director of programs at Vélo Québec, said the tragedy shows the need for streets that enforce their own rules through design instead of relying only on signage. She also backed traffic-calming measures.
A City of Montreal spokesperson offered condolences and confirmed that a fatal collision response team will visit the site to study what changes might be needed. Any decisions, the spokesperson said, would wait until the police investigation wraps up.
Should Montreal install physical barriers at the Jeanne-Mance and Henri-Bourassa intersection before the police investigation ends?
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