QUEBEC CITY—There was a well-known grocer who owned the store where most of the city’s Muslims did their shopping. A university professor who taught alongside his wife. And a father of three who worked as a computer scientist for the Quebec government.

Among the six killed in a shooting rampage at the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec here Sunday night that left 19 others injured — including two seriously — were men who came from Guinea, from Algeria and from Morocco. They shared their faith; they shared a suburban mosque. Political leaders have deemed it a terrorist attack.

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Their lives and their families’ loss were mourned by thousands in the streets of this city, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and leaders from all opposition parties Monday evening.

“Muslim Canadians are an esteemed part of all our communities,” said Trudeau at the vigil that was held at the base of the l’Èglise de Notre-Dame-de-Foy. “They are home here.”

Thirteen-year-old Zineb Soufiane came to the vigil to honour her father, Azzeddine Soufiane, 57, the grocer and father-of-three who was killed. “Take care of your parents because you never know what is going to happen,” she said. Zineb held a sign that said “Je t’aime, papa” and sobbed as vigil organizers read out the names of the six dead.

Similar vigils were held across the country.

Quebec police have charged one person — 27-year-old Alexandre Bissonnette — with six counts of murder and an additional five counts of attempted murder with a restricted firearm in connection with the shooting rampage, according to documents filed at the Quebec City courthouse Monday. Prosecutors say the investigation is ongoing and did not rule the possibility of more charges, including terrorism-related offences.

Bissonnette, who studied at the Université Laval, appeared in court late Monday looking dishevelled as he stood beside a guard in a glass prisoner’s box. He looked down and said nothing. No plea was entered. Crown prosecutors told court the matter needed to return next month, to give Bissonnette’s lawyer, Jean Petit, more time receive additional evidence.

The number of suspects became a source of much confusion Monday.

Early Monday morning, Quebec police told a press conference they had two men in custody they refused to name. In a surprising reversal later in the day, they tweeted out that the second man believed to have carried out the deadly assault was now being considered a witness.

The second man — initially in police custody, later cleared and released — was identified as Mohamed Belkhadir. The 29-year-old, also a Université Laval student, spent a nerve-wracking night in jail before terrorism investigators realized they had made an error.

Belkhadir said Monday he was trying to give first aid to a friend who was on the ground. He saw someone carrying a gun and got scared so he ran. That person turned out to be a police officer.

“I got scared and I tried to flee,” he said. “But when I heard that I had to drop to the ground, I understood that it was the police ... When they saw me running they thought I was a suspect.”

The shots lasted only 15 to 20 seconds, said Belkhadir.

Frantic 911 calls reporting shots fired at the mosque started coming in at 7:50 p.m. Sunday, police said. About 20 minutes later the suspect called the emergency services, told them he was near the L’Ile d’Orléans Bridge, was armed and would co-operate.

In the suburban neighbourhood of Cap-Rouge — about 15 minutes from the mosque — neighbours said police arrived at Bissonnette’s residence around 9 a.m. Monday. Many said they were shocked to learn of his alleged involvement in the shooting.

Rosalie Bussières, 23, lives across the street. She told the Star her older brother was in school with Bissonnette.

He was “very solitary” and “very anti-social,” said Bussières.

Bissonnette studied social sciences at the Université Laval, according to a statement released late Monday. He was in both the Sainte-Foy and Université Laval chess club with his twin brother, said Université Laval professor Jean Sévigny, who said he knew Bissonnette and his brother through the club.

“I can only give you the impression I had and that was that he seemed, he gave the impression of being a very good person,” said Sévigny, who last remembered seeing him in the fall of 2015.

Bissonnette’s Facebook profile was deleted at some point on Monday, but an archived screenshot of his Facebook page showed he “liked” a wide range of pages, including those of U.S. President Donald Trump, far-right French politician Marine Le Pen, and atheist scientist Richard Dawkins. He also “liked” several different video games, chess clubs and organizations at Université Laval, as well as the federal NDP.

Police said there were another 39 people inside the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec as Sunday prayers ended. The alleged assailant, said to be wearing a ski mask and carrying a gun, burst into the building and opened fire on the worshippers, according to witness accounts.

The victims, all male, ranged in age from 39 to 60.

Université Laval Agriculture and Food Sciences professor Khaled Belkacemi, 60, was married to another professor in the department and had three children.

Soufiane, the grocer and father of 13-year old Zineb, had two other children. He was described as an important member of the community who often helped newcomers.

Abdelkrim Hassane, 41, was also a father of three. The Algerian native worked as a computer programmer for the Quebec government for the last three years.

Before moving to Canada several years ago Aboubaker Thabti, 44, was a pharmacist’s aid, according to reports from a news outlet in his home country.

Mamadou Tanou Barry, 42, and Ibrahima Barry, 39, were both natives of Guinea. “Rest in peace my dead Tanu ... you will always be in our hearts,” wrote Safie Barry on Facebook.

“It’s a very, very big tragedy for us. We have a sadness we cannot express,” said Mohamed Labidi, the vice-president of the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec.

The president of the mosque, Mohamed Yangui, said there had been no recent threats or incidents targeting the mosque or members of the community, although there was one high-profile hate incident in which someone left a severed pig’s head at the entrance to the community centre last June during Ramadan with a note reading: “Bon appétit.” Observant Muslims refrain from eating pork.

On the floor of the Commons Monday, Trudeau called the shooting an act of terror that struck at the core of Canada’s intrinsic values of openness and freedom.

“This was a group of innocents targeted for practicing their faith. Make no mistake, this was a terrorist attack,” Trudeau said, adding such senseless violence has no place in Canada.

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“Canada has long been a diverse and accepting nation. We are kind, we are generous and we embrace one another not in spite of our differences but because of them.”

The prime minister urged people to “try to be the best versions of ourselves in these dark hours.”

To the more than one million Muslims that reside in the country he said: “We will grieve with you. We will defend you. We will love you and we will stand with you.”

The prime minister’s speech was followed by several others from opposition party leaders, all of whom urged unity.

“Today our hearts are broken, but with love and hope we come together with the shared belief that we will overcome,” said NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair.

Rhéal Fortin, leader of the Bloc Québécois, expressed disbelief in his speech.

“How can someone do this? It simply does not make any sense,” he said, adding. “We stand with the families and friends who yesterday lost a loved one for nothing.”

In Toronto, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne visited a downtown mosque and greeted noon worshippers as the call to prayers played over a public address system.

“No one should have to fear worshipping,” the premier told reporters earlier in the day before heading to the Masjid Toronto mosque on Dundas St.

Quebec City police, the provincial police, the RCMP and a team of national security investigators are now involved in the investigation into the shooting.

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Monday there would be no change to Canada’s national terrorism threat level. It remains at “medium,” as it has since October 2014, he said.

Goodale called on Canadians to be vigilant and contact their local police service if they “hear or see anything that makes you uneasy.”

But, he added, fear should not govern Canada’s actions. “We are the finest example of pluralism that world has ever known,” he said.

If terrorist motivations are proven by police, the Quebec City mosque massacre becomes only the second time since the 1985 Air India bombing that a terrorist plot will have been successfully carried out on Canadian soil.

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard said there would be increased security at mosques and other places of worship throughout the province in the wake of the killings.

“The whole world is watching us today,” Couillard said at a press conference Monday afternoon. “It’s our moment, together, to show who we are.”

The killings have sent shock waves throughout Quebec City’s Muslim community, but also across the province and the country.

Flags at schools from the Peel District School board flew at half mast Monday and officials said they were working to get resources to schools to help with conversations with students, according to an email sent to all schools Monday. The Toronto District School Board released a statement reminding staff to promote a positive school climate and nurture “seeds of inclusion.”

Messages of sympathy and condemnation also flooded in from politicians around the world, including from New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, French President François Hollande and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“This murder of people who had gathered at a mosque to pray is staggering in its cruelty and cynicism,” Putin said in a statement released Monday morning.

Trudeau spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump, who expressed his condolences to Canadians following the attack.

The City of Paris, home to several recent acts of terror, planned to turn off the Eiffel Tower’s lights starting at midnight to show a “fraternal message to everyone in Quebec and in Canada,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said on twitter.

At the vigil here Monday, Quebecer Catherine Lemieux, 20, brought a bouquet of flowers for the families of the victims.

“(Muslims) are like us; even if they wear a veil, even if they pray differently,” she said.

“They have the same values as us. We are all human.”

News from Quebec City

With files from Alicja Siekierska, Megan Dolski, Peter Goffin, Tonda MacCharles, Jacques Gallant, Rob Ferguson and The Canadian Press.

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