In a dramatic turn of events, the man accused of killing six men as they attended prayer in a Quebec City mosque last year has pleaded guilty to six charges of first-degree murder and six of attempted murder.

Alexandre Bissonnette originally pleaded not guilty to the 12 charges Monday morning but that afternoon announced he was changing his mind and wanted to plead guilty.

Superior Court Justice Francois Huot refused to accept the pleas pending a psychiatric assessment of the accused to ensure he fully understood the consequences.

Huot placed a publication ban on Monday afternoon’s proceedings but agreed this morning to accept the 12 guilty pleas.

The charges against Bissonnette, 28, were related to a shooting attack at the Islamic Cultural Centre in January 2017 in which the six men aged between 39 and 60 were killed.

The counts of attempted murder involved five people who were struck by bullets and a sixth charge encompassed the other people present at the mosque.

Bissonnette told Huot on Monday he had been thinking for sometime of pleading guilty but that he was missing certain pieces of evidence, which he received Sunday.

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Canada shaken by ‘brutal and hateful’ attack, Trudeau says at funeral service </s> QUEBEC CITY (Reuters) - A former Canadian university student has pleaded guilty to killing six men who were praying in a Quebec City mosque in January 2017, a court said on Wednesday, averting a trial in one of the country’s rare mass shootings.

Alexandre Bissonnette, 28, handcuffed and wearing leg irons as he entered the Quebec City courtroom, had asked on Monday to change his previous plea of not guilty.

Quebec Superior Court Justice François Huot imposed a publication ban on the guilty plea and ordered Bissonnette to undergo a psychiatric examination to ensure he knew the consequences of his decision.

Speaking to the courtroom, which included members of the mosque, the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec, Bissonnette said he regretted what he did and decided to plead guilty to spare the families the hardship of a trial.

“I am ashamed of what I did,” he said. “I am not a terrorist, I am not an Islamophobe.”

The judge declared him guilty on six counts of first-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder.

The slightly built, dark-haired Bissonnette looked down and at times wiped away tears as the judge read out the names of the mosque shooting victims.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau initially described the shooting as a terrorist attack, although prosecutors did not charge Bissonnette with terrorism.

Police have described him as a “lone wolf” attacker.

Mass shootings are rare in Canada, where gun control laws are stricter than in the United States.

Sentencing arguments begin on April 10. Bissonnette faces at least 25 years in prison, and could receive concurrent sentences totaling more than 100 years. </s> QUEBEC CITY (Reuters) - A former Canadian university student has pleaded guilty to killing six men who were praying in a Quebec City mosque in January 2017, a court said on Wednesday, averting a trial in one of the country’s rare mass shootings.

 Alexandre Bissonnette, 28, handcuffed and wearing leg irons as he entered the Quebec City courtroom, had asked on Monday to change his previous plea of not guilty. 

 Quebec Superior Court Justice François Huot accepted the new plea on Wednesday after taking steps to ensure Bissonnette understood the consequences of professing his guilt.

 Speaking to the courtroom, which included members of the mosque, the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec, Bissonnette asked the victims' families for forgiveness and said he decided to plead guilty to spare them the hardship of a trial.

 “I would like to ask forgiveness for all that I have done," he said. “If at least by pleading guilty I can do a little good in all this, that would be something."

 Bissonnette did not explain why he had targeted the mosque but said he had held "suicidal thoughts" and an "obsession" with death. 

 “I am not a terrorist, nor an Islamophobe," he said.

 The judge declared him guilty on six counts of first-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder.

 Congregants gathered at the courthouse said they were relieved to avoid a lengthy trial, but that it would be difficult for families to forgive Bissonnette.

 “Our people are still in a state of shock. The sentence has to be pronounced. A lot of things have to happen,” outgoing mosque president Mohamed Labadi told reporters. “There is still a deep sadness, even though he has admitted his guilt.”

 The slightly built, dark-haired Bissonnette looked down and at times wiped away tears as the judge read out the names of the mosque shooting victims. 

 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau initially described the shooting as a terrorist attack, although prosecutors did not charge Bissonnette with terrorism.

 Police have described him as a “lone wolf” attacker. 

 Mass shootings are rare in Canada, where gun control laws are stricter than in the United States.

 Sentencing arguments begin on April 10. Bissonnette faces at least 25 years in prison, and could receive concurrent sentences totaling more than 100 years.

 

 (Reporting by Kevin Dougherty in Quebec City. Writing by Allison Lampert in Montreal; Editing by David Gregorio and Tom Brown) </s> Jan. 29, 2017 — A lone man enters the Islamic Cultural Centre in Quebec City during evening prayers and begins shooting, killing six men and wounding 19 others. Police arrest two suspects, but after further investigation say only one — then 27-year-old Alexandre Bissonnette — is a suspect. They say the other person is a witness.

Jan. 30, 2017 — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joins vigil in Quebec City. He calls the massacre an act of terrorism and tells the country's Muslims: "We are with you. Thirty-six million hearts are breaking with yours." Bissonnette, a Universite Laval student, appears in court and is charged with six counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder with a restricted weapon.

Feb. 1, 2017 — The mosque opens its doors to the public — its floor and walls are still splattered with blood from the carnage.

Feb. 2, 2017 — Thousands show up to a Montreal arena for the funeral service of three of the victims — Abdelkrim Hassane, 41, Khaled Belkacemi, 60, and Aboubaker Thabti, 44.

April 20, 2017 — A relative of one of the shooting victims pleads guilty to uttering death threats against Bissonnette. Mohamed-Amine Ben-Faras, 33, the nephew of Azzedine Soufiane, told the judge he arrived in Quebec from London and headed to the mosque to try to understand the circumstances surrounding the shooting deaths. He was ordered to leave Canada for three years.

Oct. 2, 2017 — The Crown is granted permission to proceed directly to trial without a preliminary inquiry. They also add a sixth charge of attempted murder with a restricted weapon. The Crown explains the new charge involves people, including four children, who were in close proximity when the attack occurred. The Crown also announces there won't be any terrorism-related charges.

Jan. 31, 2018 — Bissonnette's parents, Manon Marchand and Raymond Bissonnette, discuss their son publicly for the first time in a letter sent to Radio-Canada in which they describe the actions of Alexandre as "inexcusable" and "totally inexplicable." But they also say they stand by their son. "Alexandre is still our son whom we love and who will always be a part of our family. Like all parents, we hoped to see him succeed and be happy in life. In a way, we have also lost a son."

March 26, 2018 — Bissonnette enters not guilty pleas for 12 charges, including six of first-degree murder and six of attempted murder. He announces in the afternoon he wants to change his pleas to guilty but the judge does not accept them pending a psychiatric assessment of the accused. </s> QUEBEC CITY - A Canadian man known for his far-right, nationalist sympathies pleaded guilty Wednesday to the killing last year of six worshippers at a Quebec mosque - a surprising turn of events in a case that shocked the nation. The rampage on January 29, 2017, which also left more than 30 injured, was one of the worst attacks on an Islamic place of worship in the West. Described in the immediate aftermath by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a “terrorist attack,” the shooting spree was a brutal blow to Canada’s multicultural society, and to a nation that welcomes tens of thousands of refugees each year.

Alexandre Bissonnette, 28, opened fire on a cold, snowy night at the end of Sunday prayers at Quebec City’s Islamic Cultural Center, a mosque located in a normally quiet neighborhood.

He had initially pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial on Monday on the advice of his lawyers, but apparently had a change of heart.

“I’ve decided to plead guilty to all of the charges ... in order to prevent the families of the victims from having to relive” the horrors of the attack, said Bissonnette, who also faced six counts of attempted murder.

Sobs erupted in the courtroom as Judge Francois Huot accepted Bissonnette’s guilty plea, following a court-ordered psychiatric assessment.

“I find you guilty of these murders,” he said.

Bissonnette, who was a university student at the time of the shooting, could now face a life sentence, or a minimum of 25 years in prison.

In court, Bissonnette - who police say called an emergency line and confessed shortly after the shooting, sobbing over the phone - read aloud from a crumpled piece of paper, saying: “I bitterly regret what I did, the lives that I destroyed.

“I am neither a terrorist, nor an Islamophobe,” he said. “I do not know why I did a foolish thing like that, and still today I’m having a hard time believing it.”

Introverted and educated, Bissonnette had been described after his arrest as a white supremacist opposed to Muslim immigration, but not affiliated with any group.

He told the court on Wednesday how he had been “swept away by fear and by horrible despair that had brought on thoughts of suicide.”

Turning to the families and friends of the victims and survivors packed into the courtroom, he offered an apology but added, “I know my actions are unforgivable.”

The six victims - Ibrahima Barry, Mamadou Tanou Barry, Khaled Belkacemi, Abdelkrim Hassane, Azzeddine Soufiane and Aboubaker Thabti - were Canadian dual nationals born in Algeria (two), Guinea (two), Morocco and Tunisia, and who had long ago resettled in Quebec.

They were a scholar, a butcher, a daycare operator, a food industry worker, a public servant and a computer programmer - all connected by faith.

The president of the mosque, Boufeldja Benabdallah, expressed relief.

“We are satisfied with the verdict,” he said outside the courtroom.

“The evil is done,” he added. “It will be up to the families to decide whether to forgive him.” </s> QUEBEC CITY, March 28 (Reuters) - A former Canadian university student on Wednesday pleaded guilty to killing six men who were praying in a Quebec City mosque in January 2017, averting a trial in one of the country´s rare mass shootings.

Alexandre Bissonnette told a Quebec City court that he wanted to change his previous plea of not guilty.

The judge declared him guilty on six counts of first-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau initially described the shooting as a terrorist attack, although prosecutors did not charge Bissonnette with terrorism. Police have described him as a "lone wolf" attacker. Mass shootings are rare in Canada, where gun control laws are stricter than the United States. (Reporting by Kevin Dougherty in Quebec City. Writing by Allison Lampert in Montreal Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe and Bill Trott) </s> Quebec City (AFP) - A Canadian man went on trial Monday for an attack on a Quebec City mosque last year, pleading not guilty to charges of shooting to death six worshippers and wounding many others.

As each of the 12 counts of murder and attempted murder against him were read out in court, Alexandre Bissonnette, 28, murmured: "Not guilty."

The rampage on January 29, 2017 was one of the deadliest ever against Muslims in a Western country, leaving six dead and more than 30 injured, including one man who is now tetraplegic.

The gunman opened fire at the end of Sunday prayers at Quebec City's Islamic Cultural Center, a mosque located in a normally quiet neighborhood.

Police say Bissonnette called an emergency line after the shooting and confessed. They found him in his car, parked on the side of a rural road about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the mosque, and arrested him.

Judge François Huot has ordered a publication ban on evidence to be presented at the trial.

The accused appeared to show little interest in the court proceedings, only occasionally glancing in the direction of his lawyers.

Over the coming days, the court will select 12 jurors for the trial by judge and jury, from a list of 600, of which nearly one-fifth have asked to be recused.

The prosecution and defense are expected to then present a joint statement of facts, followed by the first witnesses expected to testify.

The trial is scheduled to last until the end of May.

For the survivors and their families, seeing Bissonnette in court brought back painful memories. They attended the proceedings hoping to gain some understanding of why such violence was unleashed on them.

Described by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a "terrorist attack," the shooting spree was a brutal blow to Canada's multicultural, open and tolerant society, and to a nation that welcomes tens of thousands of refugees each year.

Introverted, educated and with no particularly interesting backstory, Bissonnette was revealed after his arrest to be a white supremacist opposed to Muslim immigration, but not affiliated with any group.

The six murder victims were Canadian dual nationals born in Algeria (two), Guinea (two), Morocco and Tunisia, and who had long ago resettled in Quebec.

They were a scholar, a butcher, a daycare operator, a food industry worker, a public servant and a computer programmer -- all connected by faith.

In the aftermath, Trudeau and others gathered in the city to express their solidarity with the Muslim community.

But the attack also emboldened nationalist and right-wing extremists who have become more vocal against immigration and "radical Islam," despite distancing themselves from the young attacker seemingly inspired by their rhetoric.

Since the shooting, a pig's head has been left on the steps of the mosque, and the mosque president's car was deliberately set on fire.

Last March, nearly 200 demonstrated against a motion in Canada's parliament condemning Islamophobia. It passed 201 to 91. </s> QUEBEC — Timeline of events following the deadly shooting at a mosque in Quebec City in 2017:

Jan. 29, 2017 — A lone man enters the Islamic Cultural Centre in Quebec City during evening prayers and begins shooting, killing six men and wounding 19 others. Police arrest two suspects, but after further investigation say only one — then 27-year-old Alexandre Bissonnette — is a suspect. They say the other person is a witness.

Jan. 30, 2017 — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau joins vigil in Quebec City. He calls the massacre an act of terrorism and tells the country's Muslims: "We are with you. Thirty-six million hearts are breaking with yours." Bissonnette, a Universite Laval student, appears in court and is charged with six counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder with a restricted weapon.

Feb. 1, 2017 — The mosque opens its doors to the public — its floor and walls are still splattered with blood from the carnage.

Feb. 2, 2017 — Thousands show up to a Montreal arena for the funeral service of three of the victims — Abdelkrim Hassane, 41, Khaled Belkacemi, 60, and Aboubaker Thabti, 44.

Feb. 3, 2017 — Thousands of mourners, including Trudeau, pay respects at a Quebec City convention centre for three other victims shot to death — Mamadou Tanou Barry, 42, Ibrahima Barry, 39, and Azzeddine Soufiane, 57.

Feb. 5, 2017 — Worshippers from the mosque lead hundreds of Quebec City residents on a march to promote unity and tolerance.

April 20, 2017 — A relative of one of the shooting victims pleads guilty to uttering death threats against Bissonnette. Mohamed-Amine Ben-Faras, 33, the nephew of Azzedine Soufiane, told the judge he arrived in Quebec from London and headed to the mosque to try to understand the circumstances surrounding the shooting deaths. He was ordered to leave Canada for three years.

Oct. 2, 2017 — The Crown is granted permission to proceed directly to trial without a preliminary inquiry. They also add a sixth charge of attempted murder with a restricted weapon. The Crown explains the new charge involves people, including four children, who were in close proximity when the attack occurred. The Crown also announces there won't be any terrorism-related charges.

Jan. 29, 2018 — More than 1,000 people gather to mark the one-year anniversary of the shooting. </s> A French-Canadian university student has been charged with six counts of premeditated first-degree murder following the shooting at a Quebec City mosque that killed six people.

Court documents identified the gunman in the attack on Sunday evening prayers as Alexandre Bissonnette.

He was also charged with five counts of attempted murder, according to court papers.

Among the six men killed were a butcher, a university professor, a pharmacist and an accountant, according to police and Canadian media.

Authorities initially said they had arrested two suspects, but in a Twitter message the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said that "following the investigation, the second individual is now considered as a witness".

The second man is of Moroccan descent although his nationality is not known, the source said. He has been named by media as Mohamed Khadir, or Mohammed Belkhadir.

Police said they were confident no other suspects were involved in the attack.

"They consider this a lone wolf situation," the source said.

Police declined to give details about Bissonnette or possible motives for the shooting at the mosque, the Centre Culturel Islamique de Quebec.

The gunman opened fire on around fifty people at the mosque during evening prayers on Sunday night. The same mosque was targeted last year when a pig's head was left on its doorstep during Ramadan.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons in Ottawa: "Make no mistake, this was a terrorist attack," adding a personal message to Canada's 1 million Muslims:

"Know that we value you. You enrich our shared country in immeasurable ways. It is your home. Last night's horrible crime against the Muslim community was an act of terror committed against Canada and against all Canadians," he said.

The attack was out of character for Quebec City, a city of just over 500,000 which reported just two murders in all of 2015. Mass shootings are rare in Canada, where gun control laws are stricter than in the United States.

In addition to the six killed, five people were critically injured and 12 were treated for minor injuries, a spokeswoman for the Quebec City University Hospital said.

US President Donald Trump called Mr Trudeau to express his condolences "and offered to provide any assistance as needed," said Mr Trudeau's spokesman Cameron Ahmad. He gave no further details about of the call.

Over the weekend, Mr Trudeau said Canada would welcome refugees after Mr Trump suspended the US refugee program and temporarily barred citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States.

Mr Trump's action, which the President said was "not about religion — this is about terror and keeping our country safe," was widely condemned in the United States and abroad as targeting Muslims.

A father of four, the owner of a halal butcher near the mosque, was among those killed, said Pamela Sakinah El-hayet, a friend of one of the people at the mosque.

The mosque concierge was killed, as was Ahmed Youness, a 21-year-old student, Ms El-hayet said.

One of Ms El-hayet's friends, Ms Youness' roommate, was in the mosque at the time of the shooting. He was unharmed, she said, but in total shock.

Student Ali Assafiri said he had been running late for the evening prayers at the mosque. When he arrived, the mosque had been transformed by police into a crime scene.

"Everyone was in shock," Mr Assafiri said.

Citizens for Public Justice, a group of Canadian Christians, churches and other religious congregations, expressed their solidarity with the Muslim community of Quebec City.

While the motive for the shooting was not known, incidents of Islamophobia have increased in Quebec in recent years.

The face-covering, or niqab, became a big issue in the 2015 Canadian federal election, especially in Quebec, where the majority of the population supported a ban on it at citizenship ceremonies.

Pope Francis offered his condolences to Cardinal Gerald Cyprien LaCroix, Archbishop of Quebec, who was visiting Rome on Monday. </s> QUEBEC — Police have identified the suspect in Sunday's massacre at a Quebec City mosque as 27-year-old Alexandre Bissonnette.

Court documents show Bissonnette faces six counts of first-degree murder in the attack and five of attempted murder.

Provincial police also say he is the only suspect at this point.

Six people between the ages of 39 and 60 were killed in the shooting at the Centre culturel islamique de Quebec mosque in Quebec City's Sainte-Foy neighbourhood.

Police initially said two suspects had been arrested — but later said further investigation showed only one of them was a suspect.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard have called the shooting a "terrorist attack."
A court in Quebec City accepts guilty pleas to six murders and six attempted murders tendered by Alexandre Bissonnette on March 26 and lifts restrictions on reporting the pleas after he passes a psychiatric evaluation. The charges relate to the January 2017 Islamophobic shooting at a mosque that Justin Trudeau described as a terrorist attack.