Six people killed in Quebec City mosque

QUEBEC CITY (NEWS 1130) – Quebec police say six people were killed and another eight were wounded in a shooting at a mosque Sunday night.

Christine Coulombe, the Quebec Provincial Police spokeswoman, says some of the wounded were gravely injured.

She says the dead were from 35 to 70 years of age.

Thirty-nine people were in the mosque at the time of the attack.

Two people have been arrested. She says one person was arrested at the scene and the other nearby in d’Orleans.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau characterized the shooting as a “terrorist attack on Muslims.”

Trudeau said in a statement that it is “heart-wrenching to see such senseless violence” and he vowed that Canadian law enforcement “will make every effort to apprehend the perpetrators of this act and all acts of intolerance.”

Local imam reacts

Imam Yahya Momla with the Masjid al Salaam and Education Centre in Burnaby says though police are treating this as a potential terrorist attack, he hesitates to use that word so early after the attack.

He says it’s a word too quickly used, especially when referring to violence associated with the Muslim community, so he’d like to give the suspects the benefit of the doubt.

“We would like do to the same for these individuals. At this stage, though, It does look like someone was motivated out of hate for Muslims.”

He say the violence does not shake his love for this country..

“We still strongly believe Canada is the best country in the world and that Canadians are a very diverse and accepting group of individuals. Let’s not let an incident like this take away from that.”

He says his mosque will be reaching out to the Quebec City mosque over the coming days, to see about any support they may need.