Quebec police have confirmed that of the two men arrested Sunday night in the aftermath of a shooting at a mosque, only one of them is a suspect in the case.
Six people were killed in the shooting.
The Quebec police posted to Twitter, “One only individual arrested last night in connection with the attack of Québec is considered to be suspect.” He added in a separate tweet, “Following the inquiry, the other individual is now regarded as a witness.”
Police announced earlier on Monday that the two men had been identified as Quebec native Alexandre Bissonette (pictured above) and Mohamed Khadir, a man of Moroccan descent. Police have so far declined to state which man they regard as a suspect and which they regard as a witness.
According to reports from Canadian broadcaster Global News, one of the men believed to be Mr. Bissonette called police after the shooting to ask them to arrest him and said he would comply with their orders. Inspector Denis Turcotte of the Quebec City police said the suspect was apprehended in his car near Ile d’Orleans.
The attack, proclaimed a terrorist act by Premier of Quebec Philippe Couillard, took place during evening prayers at the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec on Sainte-Foy Street in Quebec city Sunday evening. Six people, between the ages of 35 and 70, were mortally wounded. Five more remain in critical condition at a nearby hospital. Thirty-nine others managed to escape the mosque without injury.
One witness to the terror attack told Canadian public broadcaster CBC, “It seemed to me that they had a Québécois accent. They started to fire, and as they shot, they yelled, ‘Allahu akbar!’ The bullets hit people that were praying. People who were praying lost their lives. A bullet passed right over my head.”
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