Quebec City mosque shooting Alexandre Bissonnette asks for forgiveness
Posted March 28, 2018 7:18 am.
Last Updated March 28, 2018 1:27 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
QUEBEC – The man who killed six Muslims in a Quebec City mosque last year says he bitterly regrets destroying lives and causing immense pain and suffering to so many people.
Alexandre Bissonnette read a letter in court this morning and said he is ashamed of what he did.
He asked for forgiveness, but added he knows his actions from 14 months ago are unforgivable.
Bissonnette, 28, spoke to the court shortly after a judge accepted his guilty pleas on six charges of first-degree murder and six of attempted murder in connection with the shooting deaths of the men as they attended prayer.
Many people in the courtroom burst out sobbing and held hands as the judge confirmed the guilty pleas.
Bissonnette originally pleaded not guilty to the 12 charges Monday morning but announced that afternoon he was changing his mind and wanted to plead guilty.
Superior Court Justice Francois Huot refused to accept the pleas pending a psychiatric assessment of the accused to ensure he fully understood the consequences.
Huot placed a publication ban on Monday afternoon’s proceedings but agreed this morning to accept the 12 guilty pleas.
In the shooting attack at the Islamic Cultural Centre in January 2017, six men aged between 39 and 60 were killed.
The counts of attempted murder involved five people who were struck by bullets and a sixth charge encompassed the other people present at the mosque.
