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Killing of prominent organized crime member Gregory Woolley in a shooting southeast of Montreal

Killing of prominent organized crime member Gregory Woolley in a shooting southeast of Montreal

By Mounira Magdy

Published: November 17, 2023

One of the prominent figures in organized crime was killed in a shooting incident on Friday morning in the parking lot in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, according to CBC/Radio-Canada.

Multiple sources told CBC/Radio-Canada that Gregory Woolly was the victim of the shooting, which occurred on Boulevard du Séminaire in the city about 40 kilometers southeast of Montreal around 10:30 a.m. Sources also told CBC/Radio-Canada that Woolly's wife and child witnessed the shooting.

The Quebec provincial police confirmed the death of a 51-year-old man.

Photos from the scene show police tape in the parking lot and an ambulance at the scene.

Woolly, originally from Haiti, was a union leader, a street gang that worked for the Hells Angels in the 1990s.

He later became a member of the Rockers motorcycle gang, affiliated with the Hells Angels, and police say Woolly was close to the late Hells Angels leader Maurice Boucher.

According to former Montreal investigator Philippe Paul, who has close knowledge of organized crime in the city, Woolly became the first full-fledged black member of the Hells Angels.

Paul said: "I personally arrested him in the early 2000s... we found weapons and bulletproof vests in his car."

"While he was in the cell, I received a phone call in my office telling me to release him or else I wouldn't survive the day, and protection was assigned to me to go to court, we went to court and he was convicted and spent some time."

Woolly had served time on drug trafficking charges but was released on conditions in November 2021. According to police sources, authorities warned Woolly that there was a bounty on his head.

Paul said: "He recently received many warnings: shootings inside his home and around it, a fire in his house, and unfortunately today he was shot and killed."

"I believe he was one of the main targets of criminal activities that took place this year in Montreal."

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