A woman and her 11-year-old son were followed and then attacked on the Snowdon metro platform last week. The incident left the boy traumatized with cuts on his face. “He was right here in my face,” said Nica Dejean, a hairstylist who works close by and takes the metro daily. “I’m screaming ‘Leave me alone, leave me alone.’ He still won’t stop so I pull out my phone. The second (I do) he charges. My son jumps up and then you see the scuffle.” Cellphone video appears to show a man holding a beer can lung at Dejean. The camera spins around wildly while a fight ensues between the attacker and Dejean’s son. A bystander eventually stepped in and police were called. Aggressive stalking The interaction began just after 7:15 p.m., when Dejean and her son were on their way home from work and school. “So we come down the escalator and I see him there kind of pacing,” she recalled. “I’m like, instead of walking past him (to the platform), I decide to continue to the other entrance.” That’s when the man decided to follow them, yelling aggressively. “‘Hey, hey,’ over and over. ‘Hey, hey,’ she said. “By the time we get to the last (entrance), that’s when I turn around and I’m like ‘STFU, leave me alone.’ So then he comes charging. He’s right in my face. Saying ‘What? what?’” He followed the mother and her son onto the platform, where the physical altercation took place. Within five minutes, police and STM special constables arrived on the scene and a 39-year-old man was arrested. He has been given a court date and has been referred to the health-care system. Dejean is happy with the quick response from police, but believes metro users deserve better protection. “They just hang out in the metro,” she said, generalizing about the multiple other times she has been followed and felt unsafe in the metro. “And then, when the effects of their substances hit, you never know what’s going to happen, how they’re going to react.” City responds The incident happened just one day after Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada announced 52 new STM special constables will be hired before the end of 2026, and a new surveillance system will allow them to watch the platforms in real time. “I totally agree on the challenge of cohabitation that we have right now in the metro,” the mayor said, reacting to the attack on Dejean and her son. She admits it will take time for the changes her administration is making to have an effect on safety. Dejean is skeptical it will be enough. “It’s great, the initiative of putting more inspectors in the metro,” Dejean said. “But we need more than that. Maybe find someplace else for them to hang out, because we have to take the metro every day.” The mother says she is now constantly on edge and on high alert.
