The French-Canadian student accused of killing six people during evening prayers in a Quebec City mosque had rented an apartment nearby, neighbors said on Tuesday, a sign he may have been targeting the house of worship.
Alexandre Bissonnette, 27, was charged on Monday with six counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder with a restricted weapon after Sunday evening's massacre at the Centre Culturel Islamique de Québec. Police said he acted alone.
The mass shooting, which was rare for Canada and which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a "terrorist attack," prompted an outpouring of support for the mosque and for the country's 1 million-strong Muslim community.