10 years later, 4 survivors seek compensation after fatal election night attack at Metropolis - Action News
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Montreal

10 years later, 4 survivors seek compensation after fatal election night attack at Metropolis

Nearly 10 years after the fatal attack at the Metropolis nightclub in Montreal on the night of Pauline Maroiss election victory, four former technicians are each seeking more than $150,000 in damages, arguing in a civil suit that police were negligent that night.

Former technicians blame Quebec provincial police for trauma they suffered

The technicians allege there was no security or police presence by the venues back door at the time of the attack. (La Presse Canadienne/Paul Chiasson )

Nearly 10 years after the fatal attack at the Metropolis nightclub in Montreal on the night of Pauline Marois's election victory, four former technicians are each seeking more than $150,000 in damages, arguing in a civil suit that police were negligent that night.

Lighting technician Denis Blanchette died in the shooting, while stagehand David Courage was seriously injured.

The two were struck by the same bullet, fired by Richard Bain as he tried to make his way inside the club where Marois was on stage giving a victory speech on Sept. 4, 2012.

The newly elected Parti Qubcois leader had been speaking on stage to supporters in the jam-packed Metropolis for only a few minutes when she was hastily hustled off amid panic and confusion.

Parti Quebecois leader Pauline Marois is removed from the stage by SQ officers as she speaks to supporters in Montreal, Tuesday, September 4, 2012 following her election win. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)

The technicians allege there was no security or police presence by the venue's back door at the time of the attack. The four say the night changed the course of their lives and that they have suffered post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety since then.

A technician who helped rescue Courage testified that she is still haunted by what she witnessed that night.

She told the court she has relived the evening over and over and has suffered from severe anxiety. She later descended into alcoholism, and even tried to take her own life, she said.

Several technicians testified they were waiting in a group on the stairs at this back entrance to the Metropolis, when a they heard a bang and saw a man holding a firearm approach them. (Sret du Qubec)

The Sret du Qubec, responsible for Marois's security, has saidit bears no blame for the events and that the only person responsible is Bain.

In 2016 Bain was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for 20 years.