QUEBEC — Members of the city's Muslim community walked over thick, crusts of blood dried into the carpet of their mosque on Wednesday as they returned to the scene of last weekend's carnage where six men were shot to death.
Blood was everywhere: on the prayer carpet, the walls, tables and in footprints leading to the basement where people took refuge from the shooter.
Ahmed Elrefai pointed to several spots of blood across the room and said that was where his friends were hit.
"Someone was shot under the mic," he said, pointing to a dried pool of blood near a prayer carpet at the front of the room.
Elrefai said despite the stains and bullet holes in the windows and walls, three men returned to the mosque Wednesday morning to kneel for prayers.
He said Muslims in Quebec City wanted the mosque to reopen as soon as possible, just days after a shooter killed the six men and wounded several others.
"The message is that we will still pray, even with blood on the floor," he said.
Mosque vice-president Mohamed Labidi says he wanted to open the centre to the public so people could see what worshippers had to suffer.
The six victims, aged between 39 and 60, were killed when a gunman stormed the mosque and opened fire on men who were attending prayer. Authorities have refused to specify what type of firearm was used in the mass shooting.
Labidi, standing in front of a thick, gob of blood at the entrance to the carpeted prayer area, pointed down and said the remains belonged to his friend, Azzeddine Soufiane.
He said Soufiane ran to the shooter and tried to struggle with him, only to be shot dead.
"He was a generous man," Labidi said. "Generous to the last moment of his life. He is our hero."
Since the shooting, Labidi had been demure and quiet, but his voice rose as he spoke about his friend and his struggle living as a foreigner in Quebec City.
"We went to university together, he got a PhD in geology — and he couldn't find a job in this city because his name was Azzeddine Soufiane."
He forged his own path and started a grocery store, Labidi said.
"I didn't want to talk about it because it wasn't the time to do it ... but go to taxi stands and you'll see PhDs and people with master's degrees because we do not find jobs here."
Ahmed El-Ghandouri wiped away tears as he spoke about knowing Soufiane for 35 years and helping him start his grocery store.
"This is my second home," he said. "But we have to return here. We don't have the choice. We have to clean, put it back in order. And we welcome people to come and see what Islam is really about."
Mosque president Mohamed Yangui said witnesses told him the shooter, once he emptied his weapon, would run out of the prayer area and hide behind a wall near the front door of the mosque.
"He was scared, it was in that space where he reloaded," Yangui said. "Then he came out and started shooting.
"The shooter had three guns, including an AK-47 but, I don't know why, he wasn't able to use it. If I was there on Sunday night I would have been dead for sure. I'm always at the front of the room, that's where he started shooting."
Yangui said the six bodies have been returned to their families.
All but one will be flown out of the country for burial.
Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said a funeral service will be held in the city on Thursday afternoon for three of the six men.
Coderre tweeted Wednesday the ceremony will be held at Maurice-Richard Arena for Hassane Abdelkrim, Khaled Belkacemi and Aboubaker Thabti.
There will be prayers for the three other victims.
There is no Muslim cemetery in Quebec City.
Alexandre Bissonnette, 27, was arrested Sunday night following the massacre in which 19 people were also wounded, including two who were still in critical condition on Tuesday.
On Monday, Bissonnette was charged with six counts of first-degree murder and five of attempted murder using a restricted firearm.
QUEBEC MOSQUE ATTACK A TEACHABLE MOMENT FOR CHILDREN, SAY EXPERTS
TORONTO — When Marcia Powers-Dunlop heard about the deadly attack on a mosque in Quebec City, she knew she'd have to send out a note to the support workers she oversees in the Toronto District School Board. The message: use the killings as an opportunity to discuss inclusion and equity.
The board sent a similar message to teachers and parents in the aftermath of the shooting Sunday night that left six Muslim worshippers dead and 19 wounded.
Her team of nearly 750 professionals that include psychologists and social workers were ready to help, but she knew that the best people to talk about the attack were those who know the students best: their teachers.
"We decided we had to talk about it," Powers-Dunlop said. "Most importantly, we want teachers to listen and to assure the kids that they're safe and that people care about them at school and if they have specific worries that they have somebody they could go to talk about their fears."
That message was echoed in an email sent to parents by the board: "We have asked all TDSB staff to lead by example with love, compassion and respect and to continue drawing on and promoting this incredible strength in our schools and within our communities. We believe there is a need to bring the events in Quebec City into the conversation as we all — schools and the community — reflect and act on shaping a better tomorrow."
Fortunately, or in some ways unfortunately, Powers-Dunlop said, teachers are getting good at talking to students about terrible news.
"After a while, you see the same key message: listen, be empathetic, show sympathy, use it as a teachable moment, limit exposure to media if people are really upset and use it to teach about inclusivity and respect for different people."
Oren Amitay, a family psychologist, said the worst thing parents and teachers can do is avoid discussing tragedies.
"From around seven years old, there's a good chance the child will be hearing something about this," Amitay said.
"What parents and teachers have to realize when a child has an inkling of something, they can spin it into some narrative a parent would never expect. Because they're kids, the narrative is usually self focused — I'm next to die."
Amitay suggests teaching children and teens "to focus on the here and now."
If your children are worried about anti-Muslim rhetoric, and there's a Muslim kid in their school, tell them 'don't be a social justice warrior, just be cool with them,' Amitay suggested.
"Tell them to act a certain way, like they would with their friends."
Judy Wiener, a clinical psychologist and a professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, said teachers and parents have a responsibility to talk to children about the issues of race, bigotry and intolerance.
"This attack can be used in a positive way to expand horizons and help kids understand, but at the same time also acknowledging that this is really serious and distressing," Wiener said.
"I'm really worried about the student, parent or teacher who won't talk about this. Of course it's difficult, but they ought to be aware of this and grappling with it."
