Montreal man visited Toronto Zoo and Canada's Wonderland in between murder spree

A Montreal man who killed two strangers at random in August 2022 drove to Ontario and visited the Toronto Zoo and Canada's Wonderland before returning to Quebec and killing a third person, a police investigator told a coroner's inquest on Monday. 

On Aug. 2, Abdulla Shaikh, 26, randomly shot and killed André Lemieux, 64, who was inside a bus shelter, and Mohamed Salah Belhaj, 48, who was walking to work just over an hour later. 

After the killings, Shaikh visited both the Toronto Zoo and Canada's Wonderland on the morning of Aug. 3, according to surveillance video and receipts from both venues in his car. 

Around 9:30 p.m., Shaikh returned to Quebec, and killed Alexis Levis-Crevier, 22, who was skateboarding on the street. After the third murder, police were able to track Shaikh down to a room at a Montreal motel, and after an exchange of fire, officers killed him at approximately 7 a.m. on Aug. 4. 

Provincial police investigator, Alexandra Caron Vadeboncoeur told the inquest that there were no links between any of Shaikh's victims. 

Shaikh, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia around 2017 or 2018, was under the supervision of a mental health hospital when Quebec's mental health review board ruled that he represented "a significant risk to public safety," but could continue living in the community after showing some improvements. 

Vadeboncoeur also told the inquest that Shaikh had not been taking his medication as prescribed. 

The public hearings are set to continue through this week until mid-October.