A historic Quebec election that returned the Parti Québécois to power ended in tragedy Tuesday when a gunman killed one person and wounded another, then tried to start a fire at the Montreal venue where PQ Leader Pauline Marois was celebrating her minority mandate. 
 
 Police said a suspect entered a vestibule at the back of the Metropolis nightclub and fired shots, wounding two people critically. The suspect then started a fire and ran away on foot. 
 
 One shooting victim, a 45-year-old man, died at the scene. At a 6 a.m. press conference Wednesday, Montreal police said the second shooting victim, 27, was no longer in danger. Ambulance services reported another person is in hospital suffering from shock. 
 
 Montreal police spokesmen said they have arrested a 62-year-old man from Quebec, but not Montreal, who spoke French with an accent. The suspect has not been identified. Police have opened a homicide investigation and have seized two firearms. Sureté du Québec spokesman Guy Lapointe says police cannot rule out that Ms. Marois was the intended target. 
 
 “The English are waking up, the English are waking up ... It's payback ... Yeah, yeah, that’s enough,” the man said as police officers led him away in handcuffs. The suspect, a heavyset, bespectacled man, wore a balaclava, shorts and what appeared to be a bathrobe. 
 
 [Editor's note: Comments were originally open on this story. However we have now closed comments for legal reasons following the arrest of a man after people were shot and a fire was set outside the PQ victory celebration. Readers can still access comments posted earlier by clicking here.] 
 
 Ms. Marois was in the middle of her victory speech, after narrowly defeating Jean Charest’s Liberals by a handful of seats and about one percentage point in the popular vote, when several plainclothes police officers from her security detail suddenly burst on stage and pulled her away, shouting "Go with us, madam!" She later returned and spoke to the crowd. 
 
 Earlier, Ms. Marois had acknowledged the ambivalence of Quebec voters in giving her a narrow minority mandate. 
 
 "We will respect that choice by governing with all the other elected lawmakers. We'll make the necessary compromises to make the state work ... We'll govern in a responsible way." 
 
 Ms. Marois, who had been severely criticized for campaigning on identity and language themes, had some conciliatory words for Quebec's anglophone and native communities, speaking of their shared history and, in a rare move for her, speaking in English to say their rights would be respected. 
 
 However, she struck a tougher stance towards the rest of Canada. 
 
 "As a nation, we want to take ourselves the decisions that affect us. We want a country. And we'll have it." 
 
 Liberal Leader Jean Charest, the outgoing premier, lost in his riding, for the first time in a 28-year career that began when he was elected to Parliament on this day in 1984. 
 
 "The results of this election speaks to the fact the future of Quebec lies within Canada," he said. He also quipped that, "I want to thank the activists of the Liberal party who once again proved the polls wrong." 
 
 In his concession speech, Mr. Charest boasted that his party "will leave the house in good order." 
 
 Mr. Charest predicted that the Liberals would bounce back. Pointing an index up, he noted that there was "one percentage point in the popular vote between us (and the PQ)." 
 
 He made no comments about his political future. A press conference is scheduled for Wednesday. 
 
 In a statement issued early Wednesday by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s office, he said: “We are disturbed by this violence and our thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones.” 
 
 Earlier, Mr. Harper congratulated Ms. Marois — then delivered a pointed barb aimed at the independence project. “We don’t believe Quebeckers want to reopen the old constitutional quarrels of the past,” he said in a statement. 
 
 “Our government will remain focused on jobs, economic growth and good economic management. We believe economic issues and jobs are also the priority of Quebeckers. In that sense, we will continue working with the Government of Quebec on those common objectives.” 
 
 Report Typo/Error ||||| CORRECTS NAME AND TITLE TO LABIDI FROM LABIBI AND VICE PRESIDENT FROM PRESIDENT - Mohamed Labidi, the vice-president of the mosque where an attack happened, is comforted by Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard,... (Associated Press) 
 
 QUEBEC CITY (AP) — A French Canadian suspect known for his far-right, nationalist views was charged Monday with six counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder in the shooting rampage at a Quebec City mosque that Canada's prime minister called an act of terrorism again Muslims. 
 
 Alexandre Bissonnette made a brief court appearance and did not enter a plea in the attack that left six people dead during evening prayers Sunday. Wearing a white prisoner jump suit, his hands and feet shackled, he stared down at the floor and fidgeted, but did not speak. 
 
 The 27-year-old suspect, who has espoused support for the French far-right party of Marine Le Pen and had liked U.S. President Donald Trump on his Facebook page, was known to those who monitor extremist groups in Quebec, said François Deschamps, an official with a refugee advocacy group. "It's with pain and anger that we learn the identity of terrorist Alexandre Bissonnette, unfortunately known to many activists in Quebec for taking nationalist, pro-Le Pen and anti-feminist positions at Laval University and on social media," Deschamps wrote on the Facebook page of the group, Bienvenues aux Refugiés, or Welcome to Refugees. 
 
 An anthropology and political science major at Laval University in Quebec City, Bissonnette had also expressed support on his Facebook profile for "Génération Nationale," a group whose manifesto includes the rejection of "multiculturalism." 
 
 More than 50 people were at the Quebec Islamic Cultural Centre when the shooting erupted. In addition to the six dead, 19 people were wounded — all men. Of the five victims who remained hospitalized, two were in critical condition, authorities said. The dead ranged in age from 39 to 60. 
 
 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard both characterized the attack as a terrorist act, which came amid heightened tensions worldwide over Trump's travel ban on seven Muslim countries. Le Pen, leader of the National Front in France, is known for her anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant positions and has won the endorsement and admiration of white supremacists. 
 
 Canada is generally welcoming toward immigrants and all religions, but the French-speaking province of Quebec has had a long-simmering debate about race and religious accommodation. The previous separatist government of the province called for a ban on ostentatious religious symbols, such as the hijab, in public institutions. 
 
 Trudeau said in Parliament the victims were targeted simply because of their religion and spoke directly to the more than 1 million Muslims who live in Canada, saying, "We are with you." 
 
 "Thirty-six million hearts are breaking with yours," Trudeau said. "Know that we value you." 
 
 The prime minister later attended a vigil outside the mosque. 
 
 The suspect was arrested in his car on a bridge near d'Orleans, where he called 911 to say he wanted to cooperate with police. Authorities, who initially named two suspects, said the other man taken into custody was a witness to the attack and was released earlier Monday. They said they did not believe there were other suspects but were investigating. 
 
 Police did not give a motive for the attack. 
 
 Trump called Trudeau to express condolences to the Canadian people and to offer any assistance that might be needed. 
 
 The White House pointed to the attack as an example of why Trump's policies were needed. "We condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms. It's a terrible reminder of why we must remain vigilant and why the president is taking steps to be pro-active, rather than reactive when it comes to our nation's safety and security," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said. 
 
 The victims were businessmen, a university professor and others who had gathered for evening prayers, said Mohamed Labidi, the vice president of the mosque. 
 
 "'It's a very, very big tragedy for us," Labidi said tearfully. "We have a sadness we cannot express." 
 
 He said the victims were shot in the back. "Security at our mosque was our major, major concern," he said. "But we were caught off guard." 
 
 The shooting took place just before 8 p.m. Sunday. Witnesses described chaos as worshippers scrambled to find friends and loved ones, as police responding to the scene called for backup. 
 
 Couillard said he would "not go there" when asked if he blamed recent rhetoric in in the U.S. for the attack. 
 
 "Quebec is a good, generally loving society, but we have these devils as other societies have. We have to recognize that and fight them," Couillard said at a news conference in Quebec City at which he and Muslim leaders held hands in a display of solidarity. 
 
 "The Muslim community was the target of this murderous attack," Couillard said, adding that solidarity rallies would be held across Quebec later Monday. 
 
 The mosque has been a target of hate crimes in the past, including last summer when pig's head was left on its doorstep during Ramadan, when Muslims fast from dawn to sunset. Practicing Muslims do not eat pork. 
 
 Quebec City Mayor Regis Labeaume, appearing shaken, said: "No person should have to pay with their life, for their race, their color, their sexual orientation or their religious beliefs." 
 
 Worshipper Ali Hamadi said he left the mosque a few minutes before the shooting and a friend, Abdelkrim Hassen, was killed. He said Hassen, who worked in information technology for the government, had three daughters and a wife, whom he had to notify of the death. 
 
 Majdi Dridi of the Muslim Association of Canada said he knew two of the victims. One was a work colleague who was a father of three little girls, he said. 
 
 "I don't know what to say, I just hope that his family and his children can have the patience to accept what happened," Dridi said 
 
 Trudeau had earlier reacted to Trump's visa ban for people from some Muslim-majority countries by tweeting Saturday: "To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada." 
 
 Trudeau also posted a picture of himself greeting a Syrian child at Toronto's airport in late 2015. Trudeau oversaw the arrival of more than 39,000 Syrian refugees soon after he was elected. 
 
 The mayor of Gatineau, Quebec, near Canada's capital of Ottawa, said there would be an increased police presence at mosques around his city following the attack. The New York Police Department also said it was stepping up patrols at mosques and other houses of worship. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Gillies reported from Toronto. Associated Press writer Sean Farrell in Montreal contributed to this report.
– A historic victory for the separatist Parti Quebecois was marred by an attack on a victory rally for premier-elect Pauline Marois. A man opened fire during her victory speech, killing one person and critically wounding another, reports CTV. The suspect, a man in his 50s, then started a fire and ran away. He was pursued by firefighters and held until police arrived. Witnesses reported hearing the man say—in French—"That's enough" and "The Anglos are waking up," the Globe and Mail reports. After nine years in opposition, the Parti Quebecois won a minority mandate in the Canadian province's election. Leaders have promised to confront the federal government and win more powers for the province. Another pro-independence referendum is a possibility, although polls show support for independence is much lower than in 1995, when the pro-independence side lost a referendum by a margin of just 1%. "I have convictions and I am going to defend them," Marois said during her victory speech. "There will be a referendum when the Quebec population wants a referendum."