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Montreal has finally seen its first homicide of the year with the death Friday night of a taxi driver who was shot in St-Léonard overnight from Wednesday to Thursday.

“The investigation is only just beginning,” Manuel Couture, a media relations officer with Montreal police, said Saturday.

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Police found the 36-year-old driver slumped behind the wheel of his cab early Thursday on Domrémy St. near Laus St., after a 911 caller reported gunshots about 2:15 a.m.

He had been shot at least once in the upper body.

Photo by Phil Carpenter / Montreal Gazette

Investigators initially questioned two men, age 25 and 26, in connection with the case but released them Friday afternoon. There are no plans to charge the men, said Couture, who said investigators are hoping the autospsy and ballistics tests will provide leads in the case.

Until now it had been an unusually quiet year for homicide investigators. In every other year of the past decade, someone had been slain in Montreal by Jan. 21.

The homicide rate has been falling steadily over the past 25 years.

Last year, there were 29 homicides in Montreal, which has the lowest homicide rate of Canada’s five biggest cities.