Alexandre Bissonnette: Student charged over shooting at Quebec mosque which left six dead

In court: The first image of suspect Alexandre Bissonnette
REUTERS
Fiona Simpson31 January 2017

A French-Canadian student has been charged over a shooting at a mosque in Quebec which left six people dead.

Alexandre Bissonnette faces six counts of first-degree murder and five of attempted murder following the attack on the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre on Sunday.

The 27-year-old appeared at Quebec City Court over the shooting which happened during evening prayers which were attended by some 50 people.

Quebec police have named all six of those killed including father-of-three Azzeddine Soufiane, 57, who worked as a grocer and a butcher.

Moving vigil: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau place flowers close to the mosque
AP

Khaled Khaled Belkacemi, 60, a professor in the food science department at nearby Laval University, and father-of-three, Abdelkrim Hassen, 41, an IT worker for the government were also allegedly shot dead.

The final three victims were named as Aboubaker Thabti, 44, and two Guinean nationals, Mamadou Tanou Barry, 42, and Ibrahima Barry, 39.

Some 19 men were also injured in the attack, two of whom remain fighting for their lives in hospital.

Emotional scenes: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addresses mourners
REUTERS

Moving vigils have been held across Canada for those killed and injured.

Emotional images showed president Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau lay flowers close to the scene.

Mr Bissonnette did not enter a plea as he appeared in court on Monday, according to French media.

He appeared wearing a white prison-issue jump suit, with his hands and feet shackled.

Armed police: An officer patrols the scene of the alleged shootings
REUTERS

The suspect was arrested in his car on a bridge leading from Quebec City to Ile d'Orleans, where he called police to say he wanted to cooperate with the authorities, the BBC reported.

According to local media, he studied political science and anthropology at Laval University, which is situated around two miles away from the mosque.

On the social network, he also reportedly "liked" US President Donald Trump and French National Front leader Marine Le Pen, the Montreal Gazette said.

Francois Deschamps, an official with an advocacy group, Welcome to Refugees, said the suspect was known for his far-right views.

A post on the organisations Facebook page read: "It's with pain and anger that we learn the identity of terrorist Alexandre Bissonnette, unfortunately known to many activists in Quebec for taking nationalist, pro-Le Pen and anti-feminist positions at Laval University and on social media.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT