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A man who exchanged gunfire with a hitman who tried to kill Raynald Desjardins in Laval while the latter was involved in a desperate power struggle to take charge of the Montreal Mafia has been granted full parole on his sentence.

In June 2015, Montreal resident Jonathan Mignacca, 34, was sentenced to a prison term of six years and seven months after being convicted of recklessly discharging a firearm and other charges related to how, on Sept. 16, 2011, a gunman emerged from a wooded area close to where Desjardins and Mignacca had arranged to meet and tried to kill both men. The shooter apparently had information that at least Desjardins could be found at the location, near Lévesque Blvd. E., just west of Highway 25, at 9:30 a.m. that morning.

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Desjardins and Mignacca were inside their respective vehicles and had their driver-side windows lined up so they could talk to each other when the gunman opened fire on both vehicles. Desjardins sped off in his BMW X5 while Mignacca used a Glock handgun to exchange gunfire with the hitman, who got away and was never arrested. Mignacca was arrested a short while later after police spotted him emerging from a wooded area not far from where the shooting took place.

It appeared that only Mignacca was wounded in the exchange — a slight injury to his chest — but there were several innocent bystanders in the area where the bullets flew in both directions. A Laval city bus with passengers on board, that happened to be passing by, was struck by one of the bullets.