Quebec provincial police say six people are dead and eight were wounded after shots were fired inside a mosque on Sunday night during evening prayers.
Sûreté du Québec Sgt. Christine Coulombe says the victims range in age from 35 to 70.
Thirty-nine people escaped the Islamic cultural centre of Quebec in the Sainte-Foy neighbourhood without injuries, according to Coulombe.
Both Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Quebec government have called the shooting an act of terrorism.
Earlier in the evening, Quebec City Police Const. Étienne Doyon said mostly men were gathered inside the mosque when the shooting began just before 8 p.m.
At the moment of the attack, the men were praying on the ground floor of the building, while women and children were upstairs.
Two suspects have been arrested, one of whom was apprehended after a chase that ended near l’île d’Orléans.
A large perimeter has been set up around the mosque.
Quebec City Police said they are working with the RCMP and the Quebec provincial police. At 10:40 p.m. police said the “situation is under control.”
“The building is secure and the occupants evacuated. The investigation continues,”Quebec City Police tweeted.
A Québécois accent’
A witness, who asked to remain anonymous, told CBC’s French-language service Radio-Canada that two masked individuals entered the mosque.
“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,” said the witness.
“There were even kids. There was even a three-year-old who was with his father.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau condemned the shooting, which he described as a “terrorist attack on Muslims in a centre of worship and refuge,” in a statement.
He said, “Muslim-Canadians are an important part of our national fabric, and these senseless acts have no place in our communities, cities and country.”
Politicians across Canada and the world tweeted their support for the mosque, while denouncing the act.
“Horrified at the news of a shooting in a mosque tonight in Québec City. We stand with our Muslim neighbours against this act of hatred,” NDP leader Tom Mulcair tweeted.
The administration of the mosque thanked citizens for their outpouring of support on their Facebook page late in the evening.
“Thank you for the hundreds of compassionate messages coming from everywhere,” the mosque wrote.
Ppl a get shot all when Dem a pray… Jah know it nuh pretty out deh.