Provincial police in Mascouche have a 55-year-old man under arrest, following a deadly shooting early this morning.

The Surete du Quebec says the shooting happened at around 3 a.m., alongside a farm building adjacent to a cornfield on Chemin de la Cabane Ronde in Mascouche, north-east of Montreal.

They say two men had entered the cornfield overnight. As the two men emerged from the field, they were confronted by one or more armed suspects. 

One of the suspects fired at the two men, hitting one of them. The victim, a 42-year-old Mascouche man, was declared dead at the scene. The other man ran and was later able to call Mascouche police an hour and a half later to tell them his companion had been shot.

Because of the terrain, which includes cornfields, Mascouche police called for SQ assistance to help in the search for the shooting victim. The SQ, responding with its helicopter and its canine unit found the shooting victim at around 7 a.m.

Police say they can only speculate as to why the two men had entered the cornfield and are investigating several avenues.

They say it may have been a secret meeting that went wrong, or the two men may have been looking for an illicit marijuana growing operation in the cornfield. Investigators have yet to confirm the presence of any marijuana plants in the area.

Photos/Video: Shuyee Lee (CJAD)