A Montreal resident charged with shooting the owner of a downtown clothing boutique in broad daylight last week is scheduled to have a bail hearing at the Montreal courthouse on Friday.
Kevin Buehler II, 29, was ordered detained on Thursday following his first appearance at the Montreal courthouse where he was charged with shooting Tony Elian on March 12. The shooting occurred just before noon inside Elian’s boutique, Giorgio Gruppo Roma, located across from the Cours Mont Royal shopping complex on Peel St. The same boutique was firebombed on March 18, 2017.
Elian was wounded but survived the shooting. At the time, police said a masked man entered the store and fired a shot that struck Elian’s lower body. A shotgun was left on the sidewalk outside the store after the gunman fled.
Buehler was arrested by the Montreal police sometime this week and faces four charges in all. Two of the charges reveal the Montreal police believe robbery was the motive behind the shooting. Besides being accused of discharging a firearm with the intent to injure the victim, Buehler was also charged with armed robbery, using a firearm while committing a robbery and wearing a disguise to commit a crime.
Five months ago, a Quebec Court judge agreed to grant Buehler, a resident of the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough, an absolute discharge in a case at the Montreal courthouse where he was charged with the simple possession of marijuana. The charge in that case was originally filed in 2012.