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By Reuters 
November 2, 2020
Kevin Dougherty
Quebec City, Canada – Two people were killed and five injured after being stabbed by a man dressed in medieval clothing and wielding a sword, Quebec police said on Sunday, noting that the attack appeared to be motivated by personal reasons and not linked to any terrorist group. .
Police arrested a 24-year-old Montreal man early Sunday morning, Quebec Police Chief Robert Pigeon said at a news conference. Carl Girouard appeared in a Quebec court via video and was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder, according to Radio-Canada.
“Dressed in a medieval costume and armed with a Japanese sword, everything leads us to believe that he chose his victims at random,” Pigeon said, adding that preliminary information indicated that the man was not affiliated with any terrorist group.
Pigeon said the suspect had come prepared to inflict as much damage as possible, but did not elaborate. The Quebec newspaper Le Soleil said the suspect had gasoline containers in his car. Pigeon declined to comment on the report.
The incident began Saturday night, on Halloween, inside the historic walled city center. Police told nearby residents to stay inside and made an arrest after a nearly three-hour chase when port security found the suspect, barefoot on the ground.
With the city under partial lockdown due to the pandemic, there were few people on the streets, limiting the potential damage, police said.
“It is once again, and we believe, an isolated act,” Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume told reporters. “We need to have a social debate on the subject (of mental health) because it is increasingly difficult to handle.”
In 2017, a Canadian shot dead six members of a Quebec City mosque and was later sentenced to life in prison.
The Quebec police chief said Sunday that the suspect had spoken of carrying out an attack during a medical examination five years ago, but was not known to police and had no criminal record.
The victims were identified as hairdresser Suzanne Clermont, 61, and François Duchesne, 56, the museum’s communications director.
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