‘ Barbarous act’
Victim s of ha llow een-night stabbing ata cks in Quebec cit y cho sen at random , po lice say
Police have charged a 24-year-old man from Ste-thérèse, north of Montreal, with two counts of first- degree murder and five counts of attempted murder in connection with the Halloween-night stabbing attacks in Quebec City.
The suspect, Carl Girouard, a man with no criminal past but a history of mental health issues, appeared in a Quebec City courtroom late Sunday via video conference.
He was arrested at 1 a. m. Sunday following a terrifying night for the residents of old Quebec. He is being held in jail pending his next court appearance Thursday.
The attacks left two people dead and five others injured. Police Sunday afternoon identified the victims as François Duchesne, 56, and Suzanne Clermont, 61, both from Quebec City.
At noon the Quebec flag on the main tower of the National Assembly was lowered to half-staff.
By 3 p.m., a small crowd had gathered in front of the home on Remparts St. in Vieux- Québec where Clermont, a hairdresser, lived. Many left flowers at the door and stood milling about looking shocked at what had happened so close to their homes.
The old quarter was almost deserted except for police and media.
Earlier, at a morning news conference, Quebec City’s police Chief Robert Pigeon said the suspect, dressed in medieval garb on the night of Halloween, committed the attacks using a Japanese sword, a katana.
The sword is not considered a prohibited weapon. Pigeon said the suspect came to Quebec City specifically intending to harm as many people as he could.
“Last night we were thrust into a night of horror,” the chief said. “Everything indicates he chose his victims at random. He approached the victims striking them with his sword.
“I think we can conclude it was planned. Someone who is wearing a disguise, is carrying a sword and chooses his victims at random, I think this was planned.”
A shaken Quebec City Mayor Régis Labeaume likened the shock to that experienced after a 2017 rampage at a Quebec City mosque that left six dead.
“This morning I have a feeling of playing again in an old movie, a film that unfolded Jan. 29, 2017,” Labeaume said.
“It is a hallucinating event, terrifying, an event that is beyond comprehension. We believe it was an isolated act, as was the attack on the mosque.”
Deputy premier Geneviève Guilbault, who is responsible for the Quebec City region and public security, described the events as a “night of horror.”
“I share the pain of survivors,” Guilbault said, calling the attack a “barbarous act.”
“We like to think Quebec City is a peaceful, safe place,” Guilbault added. “It is most of the time. Unfortunately, tragedies like this remind us we are not sheltered from these terrible, terrible situations that happened this night.”
In Ste-thérèse, 30 kilometres north of Montreal, police executed a search warrant at a four-storey apartment building. A police source confirmed the search was related to the investigation into the Quebec City tragedy.
While the provincial capital was in shock, police were still scouring the streets of the old city where the incident took place. A total of 25 separate sites were being examined.
Pigeon said all the victims were residents of Quebec City. Two were French nationals who had lived in Quebec City for several years.
Premier François Legault tweeted a message expressing his horror and sympathy.
“The words to describe such a tragedy escape me,” Legault said.
Other politicians, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, also reacted. Trudeau said his “heart breaks for the loved ones of the two people killed.”
Pigeon said there was no indication the attacks were motivated by religion or aimed at a specific group, but the suspect had expressed the desire to kill five years ago while under medical care.
The man was arrested in the Old Port area of Quebec City, near the waterfront. A Radio- Canada reporter on the scene said the man was spotted crouching by a bush by a security guard patrolling the area.
Some media reported he was suffering from hypothermia.
The first calls to police came in around 10: 28 p. m. Saturday. Witnesses said one person was injured near the Château Frontenac hotel in Vieux- Québec. The Le Soleil newspaper reported early Sunday that three women found the first victim on the ground near the hotel and called authorities.
Other witnesses said they saw the suspect running through Old Quebec with his weapon in his hand.
A spokesperson for the Centre hospitalier universitaire du Québec said it did
THE WORDS TO DESCRIBE SUCH A TRAGEDY ESCAPE ME.
not appear that the injuries to the five others were serious. Pigeon said the victims have “significant lacerations,” but their lives are not in danger.
Muslim organizations in Quebec City, including the mosque where six worshippers were killed and 19 were injured in 2017, condemned the attacks and expressed support for the families of the victims.
“This act of damaging human life is an infamous and criminal act. Its author has brought grief to the many families and relatives of the killed and injured victims. We wish to extend our condolences and sympathies to the families of the victims who died during that night of horror,” the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec, Mosque of the Capital, Association of Muslim Students at Université Laval and other organizations said in a statement.
Conservative MP Gérard Deltell, who represents the Louis- Saint- Laurent riding in Quebec City, also said on Twitter he was “deeply troubled by the terrible tragedy” and offered his thoughts to the victims, their families and first responders.