Six people were killed and eight were injured in a deadly attack on worshippers during evening prayers at a mosque in Quebec City on Sunday. The authorities said the attack is being investigated as an act of terrorism.
Canada's CTV News reported that the suspect in Sunday's Quebec City mosque shooting visited the mosque three days before the massacre and spoke with one of the worshipers.
Reports said Alexandre Bissonnette was wearing a long black coat and carrying a backpack when he walked into the Centre Culturel Islamique de Quebec on Thursday. Bissonnette struck up an odd conversation with a worshipper, Houssine el Manoug.
"When I wanted to get out of the mosque I said, 'salem,' which means hello in our language. And he answered 'salut,'" el Manoug told CTV News. "And then he started talking about something else. He told me, 'I love kabab and shisha'," he added.
Before leaving the mosque, Bissonnette had asked for some money from el Manoug. But, after hearing about the attack on Sunday, El Manoug searched Bissonnette's name online and recognized him immediately. "I found the picture of the guy. It was the same one," El Manoug said.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said the 27-year-old has been charged with six counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder.