On Friday, March 15, 1974 two Atomes gang members were shot and killed by Gitans in a four hour battled that started in a tavern parking lot, continued at the local hospital, and ended in the downtown streets of Sherbrooke. Any high schooler can tell you the leader of the Roman Empire was betrayed and assassinated on March 15, the Ides of March in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

The Night of the Long Knives is by far not the only moment of gang conflict in the Eastern Townships region in the 1970s, but it is the most well known event, in Sherbrooke. It's a story that many locals would just as soon forget. But it can't and shouldn't be forgotten because in many ways it speaks to the heart of the character of Sherbrooke.

For more information please visit the website: https://theresaallore.com/2022/02/20/the-night-of-the-long-knives/