Man charged with murder in death of wife and 2 children on Montreal’s South Shore

A 36-year-old man has been charged in Longueuil, Quebec, with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder in connection with the deaths of a mother and her two children on Montreal’s South Shore.

The first-degree murder charges are related to the children, ages 2 and 5, who died in Brossard, Que., over the weekend, according to court documents. The first-degree murder charge is related to the death of their mother, Synthia Bussières, 38.

The man, Mohamad Al Ballouz, is also expected to be charged with arson.

According to Longueuil police, Al Ballouz was denounced by phone from his hospital bed on Monday. The statement says the victims are the man’s wife and their children.

The incident occurred around 1 a.m. Sunday morning, when authorities responded to a fire alarm that had gone off at a residential building on St-Laurent Boulevard, near St-Charles Street.

Firefighters found three unconscious victims in a 12th-floor apartment. They were rushed to the hospital, where the woman was pronounced dead. The two children were in critical condition, but died shortly afterward.

The suspect was also in the apartment when authorities arrived and he was arrested. The man was injured and taken to the hospital for treatment.

Detectives questioned the man after he was treated, police said. He remains in custody.

An autopsy will be performed on the victims’ bodies to determine the exact cause of death, police said.

In addition, the investigation continues on site in Brossard in collaboration with forensic technicians. The Longueuil police say that the couple and their children were not known to the police.