On Sunday night, two hooded and masked gunmen opened fire on worshipers at the Quebec Islamic Cultural Center. Six people were killed, and 19 others injured. Officials have not yet identified a motive, but the mosque has previously been the target of hate crimes, including a severed pig’s head being left on the property in June.
Two suspects have been arrested for the attack, and police do not believe that any more remain at large. Officials have not released information about the race or religion of the assailants. Quebec and Canadian leaders have expressed shock and dismay at the attack, and reached out to the community. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement, “it is heart-wrenching to see such senseless violence. Diversity is our strength, and religious tolerance is a value that we, as Canadians, hold dear.”
The Washington Post has more information here.
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Backing up what Rod Gillis said -Apparently the second suspect was a Good Samaritan (or an attendee of the mosque) who was administering first aid to the victims. He was initially arrested because he fled from an armed police officer, mistakenly thinking the shooter had returned. Might be worth a correction to the blog post, though it looks like the other commenters are already aware of the updated facts.
There is a very insightful article in the New york Times written by Haroon Siddiqui. He is a Canadian journalist/writer. The article provides context with regard to some of the Islamophobia in Canada on the part of the previous Conservative government and its supporters together with the debate about “reasonable accommodation” In Quebec, and where wedge politics and hateful rhetoric can take things.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/opinion/the-bigotry-that-armed-the-quebec-mosque-attacker.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-left-region®ion=opinion-c-col-left-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-left-region&_r=0
La Presse is reporting that the alleged shooter was a well-known troll on several Quebec-area refugee websites and facebook pages.
Letter from the Bishops of Quebec and Montreal:
http://quebec.anglican.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/pastoral-letter.pdf
Proof once again that our greatest danger is home-grown terrorists. The United States is proving that at the highest levels of government.
An appalling act of violence. Police are now saying there is only one suspect. The second person who was arrested is now considered a witness.
Here is a link to a statement from our Primate:
http://www.anglican.ca/news/sympathy-solidarity-sainte-foy/30017918/