Suspect named in Quebec attack

Quebec City, Canada (NBC News) — The suspect in the Canadian mosque shooting — which the prime minister declared “a despicable act of terrorism” — has been identified as Alexandre Bissonnette, several law enforcement sources familiar with he investigation told NBC News.

A second man who was detained after the attack on the Quebec City Islamic Cultural Center, where six people were killed and 17 were wounded, is considered a witness and not a suspect, the sources said.

Police have said one of the two men was arrested after he called 911 to say he was in his car on a bridge near the Île d’Orléans, an island in the Saint Lawrence River, and was armed and ready to surrender, officials said.

More than 50 people were in the mosque at the time of the attack. Those killed were all men aged between 39 and 60, according to police. Five others were critically injured and another 12 suffered light injuries.

“This was a group of innocents targeted for practicing their faith,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons on Monday afternoon.

“Make no mistake: This was a terrorist attack.”

No more information has been released about the gunman or the motive behind the attack. In June 2016, a pig’s head was left on the doorstep of the Quebec City Islamic Cultural Center, but it was not known if the incident was related in any way.

Trudeau, who received a condolence call from President Donald Trump, issued a call for unity.

“Such senseless violence has no place in Canadian society,” he said.

“Canada has long been a diverse and accepting nation. We are kind. We are generous. We embrace one another not in spite of our differences but because of them.

“Canadians will not be broken by this violence,” he said.

While police in Quebec City didn’t say whether they believed the shooting was motivated by Islamophobia, officials in New York City said they were beefing up security at mosques and other religious locations throughout the city.

Incidents of Islamophobia have increased in the province of Quebec in recent years, according to Reuters.

Sunday’s attack came hours after Trudeau openly rejected Trump’s restriction on travel from seven Muslim-majority nations.

Trump’s executive order has sparked protests across the United States and beyond. And while he did not directly reference the demonstrations, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard echoed the protesters’ sentiments during a press conference early Monday.

“We should not withdraw and become a closed society because of such a terrible event,” he said. “On the contrary, as I indicated, we have to keep working together, striving towards an open, inclusive, peaceful society. That’s the right response to this terrible event.”

“We are all Quebecois… a big nation even more united today,” Couillard said.

 

 

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