Quebec City mosque shooting Alexandre Bissonnette opens fire at mosque in Sainte-Foy, Quebec, killing six and wounding 19 others in a spree shooting.
The Quebec City mosque shooting (French: Attentat de la grande mosquée de Québec) was a terrorist attack by 27-year-old Alexandre Bissonnette on the evening of January 29, 2017, at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Quebec City, a mosque in the Sainte-Foy neighbourhood of Quebec City, Canada. Six worshippers were killed and five others seriously injured after evening prayers when a man entered the prayer hall shortly before 8:00 pm and opened fire for about two minutes with a 9mm Glock pistol. Approximately 40 people were reported present at the time of the shooting.
The perpetrator, 27-year-old Alexandre Bissonnette, pleaded guilty to six counts of first-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder. On February 8, 2019, Bissonnette was sentenced to life in prison, with no possibility of parole for 40 years. Upon appeal, the Court of Appeal of Quebec found 40 years without parole to be unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment, adjusting the sentence to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years. Quebec prosecutors are seeking to reinstate the original sentence with an appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. Leave to appeal was granted on May 27, 2021.The shooting prompted widespread discussion of Islamophobia, racism, and right-wing terrorism in Canada. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier Philippe Couillard called the shooting a terrorist attack, but Bissonnette was not charged or sentenced under the terrorism provision of the Criminal Code or described as such by terrorism experts. On the fourth anniversary of the attack, the Trudeau government announced plans to commemorate the day of the attack as The National Day of Remembrance of the Quebec Mosque Attack and of Action Against Islamophobia.