10 years later, 4 survivors seek compensation after fatal election night attack at Metropolis

Nearly 10 years after the fatal attack at the Metropolis nightclub in Montreal on the night of Pauline Marois's election victory, four former technicians are each seeking more than $150,000 in damages, arguing in a civil suit that police were negligent that night.

Lighting technician Denis Blanchette died in the shooting, while stagehand David Courage was seriously injured.

The two were struck by the same bullet, fired by Richard Bain as he tried to make his way inside the club where Marois was on stage giving a victory speech on Sept. 4, 2012. 

The newly elected Parti Québécois leader had been speaking on stage to supporters in the jam-packed Metropolis for only a few minutes when she was hastily hustled off amid panic and confusion. 

The technicians allege there was no security or police presence by the venue's back door at the time of the attack. The four say the night changed the course of their lives and that they have suffered post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety since then.

A technician who helped rescue Courage testified that she is still haunted by what she witnessed that night. 

She told the court she has relived the evening over and over and has suffered from severe anxiety. She later descended into alcoholism, and even tried to take her own life, she said.

The Sûreté du Québec, responsible for Marois's security, has said it bears no blame for the events and that the only person responsible is Bain.

In 2016 Bain was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for 20 years.