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| Quebec mosque attack: Student Alexandre Bissonnette charged | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Canadian police have charged a French-Canadian student over the fatal shooting of six Muslim worshippers at a mosque in Quebec. | Canadian police have charged a French-Canadian student over the fatal shooting of six Muslim worshippers at a mosque in Quebec. |
| Alexandre Bissonnette was charged with six counts of first-degree murder and five of attempted murder. | Alexandre Bissonnette was charged with six counts of first-degree murder and five of attempted murder. |
| The 27-year-old is due to appear in a Quebec City court over Sunday evening's attack, during evening prayers at the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre. | |
| Vigils are being held across Canada to commemorate those killed and injured. | Vigils are being held across Canada to commemorate those killed and injured. |
| More than 50 people were at the mosque when the shooting erupted just before 20:00 on Sunday. | |
| Five people are still in hospital with injuries and another 12 people with minor injuries were treated and released, said hospital officials. | Five people are still in hospital with injuries and another 12 people with minor injuries were treated and released, said hospital officials. |
| A man of Moroccan heritage who was also arrested after the attack, Mohamed Khadir, is now being treated as a witness. | A man of Moroccan heritage who was also arrested after the attack, Mohamed Khadir, is now being treated as a witness. |
| Quebec provincial police have released the names of all six victims who were killed: | Quebec provincial police have released the names of all six victims who were killed: |
| 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. | |
| According to CBC News, Mr Bissonnette studied political science and anthropology at Laval University, whose campus is about 3km (two miles) away from the mosque. | |
| The Montreal Gazette reports that the suspect dressed up as the Grim Reaper for Halloween, according to his Facebook page, which has now been taken offline. | |
| On the social network, he also reportedly "liked" US President Donald Trump and French National Front leader Marine Le Pen. | |
| Francois Deschamps, an official with an advocacy group, Welcome to Refugees, said the suspect was known for his far-right views. | |
| "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," Mr Deschamps wrote on organisation's Facebook page. | |
| At the scene - Jessica Murphy, BBC News | |
| The streets around the mosque are mostly deserted except for the police investigators milling around the cordoned-off site. | |
| Noemie Roussel Paradis is standing alone across from the empty mosque holding a Koran. She is a proud convert to Islam and came to pay her respects after "this murder, this attack, this act of terrorism", even though this was not the mosque where she prays. | |
| "This is Allah's home, and there was blood spilled on the floor," she said. | |
| She said it's likely that she shared a Ramadan meal with one of the people who was in the mosque during the attack. "The only thing we can do now is cry and hope that Allah will make those responsible face their actions," she said. | |
| Nearby, Martin St-Louis is holding a large wooden board, its painted message carrying a call for peace. | |
| "Where terror stands or walks, peace must stand," he said. "I'm no philosopher or priest, but for those people who fall, we have to stand." | |
| Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard both described the shooting as a terrorist attack. | |
| Mr Trudeau said in Parliament the victims were targeted simply because of their religion. | |
| Addressing the more than one million Muslims who live in Canada, he said: "We are with you. | |
| "Thirty-six million hearts are breaking with yours. Know that we value you." | |
| The shooting came amid heightened global tensions over Mr Trump's travel ban on seven Muslim countries. | |
| But the White House pointed to the attack as an example of why the US president's policies were needed. | |
| "We condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms," said White House spokesman Sean Spicer. | |
| "It's a terrible reminder of why we must remain vigilant and why the president is taking steps to be pro-active, rather than reactive when it comes to our nation's safety and security." | |
| The mosque has been a target of hate crimes in the past, including last summer when a pig's head was left on its doorstep during Ramadan. | |
| Mohamed Labidi, vice-president of the Islamic centre, said the victims had been shot in the back. | |
| "It's a very, very big tragedy for us," Mr Labidi said tearfully. "We have a sadness we cannot express. | |
| "Security at our mosque was our major, major concern. But we were caught off-guard." | |
| Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume said: "No person should have to pay with their life, for their race, their color, their sexual orientation or their religious beliefs." | |
| Quebec's immigrant community | |
| The province has welcomed thousands of immigrants from Arab countries and other nations, but it has also struggled with what it means to accommodate those newcomers. | |
| The predominantly French-speaking province fiercely protects its linguistic identity and its secularism, and there has been a longstanding debate over the "reasonable accommodation" of immigrants and religious minorities. | |
| Arab Canadians have settled in Quebec, especially from countries with some French cultural background such as Lebanon, Algeria, and Tunisia. | |
| Many found jobs and built communities, but have also said they felt targeted by some of the political rhetoric. | |
| For example, proposals to ban the niqab have found more fertile ground in the province than in other parts of the country. | |
| Quebec also has strong political links to France, where similar debates have raged. | |
| In recent months, there have been reports across the province of Islamophobic incidents, including one targeting the Ste-Foy mosque. | |
| Despite the message of unity from across the political spectrum and the population in the wake of the attack, Haroun Bouazzi, president of a human rights group in Montreal, says that "Quebec Muslims are frightened right now". |