Gargantua bar attack
The Gargantua bar attack happened on January 21, 1975, at the Gargantua nightclub on Beaubien Est in Montreal, Quebec. Two gunmen took 13 people hostage, killed the manager Rejean Fortin, and wounded a customer, Pierre Lamarche. The other patrons were pushed into a small storage closet, the door was padlocked and blocked with a jukebox, and the club was set on fire. Firefighters found 13 bodies in the closet, and all but Lamarche died from smoke.
The attack is believed to be connected to an October 30, 1974 double shooting at Gargantua that killed two criminals. The main suspect was Richard Blass, who had recently escaped from prison, but he was killed by police on January 24, 1975, in Val-David.
Investigations later suggested there may have been more than one gunman. In a coroner’s inquest, Fernand Beaudet was found criminally responsible for the attack, though charges were later dropped for lack of evidence. Beaudet’s girlfriend testified, and a post-attack phone call did not clearly prove his involvement.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 18:00 (CET).