A half dozen projectiles ripped through Kevin Campbell, 22, at 9:20 p.m. on Aug. 17, 2012 on Devils Hill, as a pair of shooters killed the young man in clear sight of witnesses.Media reports noted the killing, but Campbell's name and image have never been published until now
The killers were not apprehended.
The shooting took place in a small section of the Ville St. Pierre section of Lachine sandwiched between Montreal West up the hill and the railway tracks, under which a pedestrian tunnel runs.
Dozens of new homes have been built nearby but the area also remains semi-industrial.
Prior to the shooting, someone had turned the tunnel surveillance camera sideways, which indicates that the killing was premeditated.
Witnesses noted that one shooter was a light-skinned black man with a birthmark on his face. He wore a white t-shirt with jeans and took time to pick up the bullet casings on the ground after firing his shots.
The other shooter was a tall dark-skinned black man who wore a dark-coloured track suit. He ran up the hill towards Montreal West after the shooting. The other shooter dashed in the opposite direction through the tunnel.
Campbell had previously lived in the area but his family had moved away about a year prior.
After he was shot, a witness screamed at the shooters and ran to Campbell and and waited with him for an ambulance. It was clear he was not going to survive but he did not die alone. In spite of the descriptions, police have failed to locate any suspects.
Campbell embraced gang life in items that he posted on his facebook page, but others noted that he was generally good humoured and kindhearted.
One unverified explanation suggests that Campbell had started as a delivery boy for a local marijuana dealer but had opted to go out on his own in defiance of his boss, who considered the area his turf.
That coldhearted marijuana dealer, according to this narrative, then supposedly paid others to kill Campbell.