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The Quebec City coroner’s office identified the two people who died during a stabbing attack on Halloween night as Suzanne Clermont, 61, and François Duchesne, 56.
Both Clermont, a hairdresser, and Duchesne, director of communications and marketing at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ), were residents of the city.
Police Chief Robert Pigeon said Sunday morning that police believe the targets of the attack, which also injured five other people, were chosen at random.
Agents arrested Carl Girouard, 24, of Sainte-Thérèse, Que., North of Montreal, in connection with the attack. He has been charged with two counts of first degree murder and five counts of attempted murder.
On Sunday morning, friends placed a bouquet of flowers in front of the building where Clermont, who worked at Salon Les Z’ongles, a few blocks away, lived with her longtime partner.
“Everyone feels very vulnerable, but at the same time we are all very sad, because she was our ray of sunshine,” said Francine Matteau, who lives a few doors away but did not witness the attack.
She and Clermont were part of a tight-knit circle of perhaps a dozen friends who had taken over a public space on Rue des Remparts, where most homes do not have backyards or balconies, for their physically estranged pandemic gatherings.
“Our little group from the neighborhood, which we call the little town … we had dedicated this space, between the canons, as our living room. So we would bring our chairs and have a 5 to 7, and sometimes drag a little,” Matteau told Radio-Canada.
Lucie Painchaud was another one of Clermont’s friends and neighbors. She and Clermont teamed up during the summer months, when neighbors gathered at the end of the street to interact socially amid COVID-19 restrictions.
“She was such a kind and understanding person,” Painchaud said. “Is incredible.”
The attack happened just outside Clermont’s front door, where she regularly went out to smoke a cigarette before bed.
Duchesne, who had been out for a run, died shortly before on the rue du Trésor, near the Château Frontenac hotel.
People who knew him appreciated him, said Carol Proulx and Sylvain Duchesne, co-owners of a clothing store on St-Jean Street, who knew the two victims. Clermont worked in the building next to his store.
“Finding out how close he was to home, the unexpected, is very surprising,” Proulx said.
Sylvain Duchesne said she doesn’t think she will ever see the two victims again.
“A barbarism like that is frustrating. It’s shocking,” he said.
The MNBAQ community is in shock after Duchesne’s death, a museum spokesperson said in a statement.
“The entire team at the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec wholeheartedly supports the family and loved ones of François, with whom we sympathize, but also the families and loved ones of all the victims of this inexplicable tragedy,” says the release. .
Jean-Luc Murray, the museum’s director general, is expected to give a statement earlier this week.
Nathalie Roy, Quebec’s culture minister, offered her condolences to all the families of the victims and said the cultural community is shocked to learn of Duchesne’s death.
I add my voice to that of the Prime Minister and offer my condolences to the families of the victims of last night’s tragedy. The cultural community is shocked to learn of the death of François Duchesne, director of communication and marketing of the @mnbaq, to which we offer all our support. https://t.co/225bqDwh7L
The identities of the other five victims, including two local residents who are French citizens, are covered by a publication ban.
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