Alexandre Bissonnette, a 27 year old student at Laval University, has officially been charged after opening fire at a mosque in Quebec Sunday night and killing six people. Per reports, Bissonnette is facing six counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder.
The attack at Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec left 6 men dead and 19 injured. Two victims remain hospitalized in serious condition. More than 50 people were in the mosque at the time of the attack. The victims range in age from 35-70.
“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.”
The shooting occurred on the same weekend that Trudeau mentioned that refugees were welcome in Canada. Bissonnette, who was anti-immigration with extreme right-wing views, reportedly called the police on himself and was arrested 12 miles from the shooting, on Île d’Orléans Bridge.
Bissonnette studied political science and was known to troll Facebook groups for refugees, while commenting on on pages linked to a far-right, nationalist, anti-immigration movement. He was also described as anti-social and kept to himself.
