6 killed in shooting at Quebec City mosque

(Image credit: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images)

last updated 30 January 2017

Six people were killed and eight injured Sunday night when gunmen opened fire at a mosque in Quebec City during evening prayers, police said.

Police also told reporters there are two suspects in custody. A witness told Reuters there were about 40 people inside the Quebec City Islamic Cultural Center when up to three gunmen came in and started to shoot. The mosque's president, Mohamed Yangui, who was not at the mosque when the shooting took place, called the attack "barbaric." There has been an uptick in incidents of Islamophobia in recent years, Reuters reports, and last year, a pig's head was left on the cultural center's doorstep.

In a statement, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he condemned "this terrorist attack on Muslims in a center of worship and refuge," adding it is "heart-wrenching to see such senseless violence. Diversity is our strength, and religious tolerance is a value that we, as Canadians, hold dear."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.