How the Quebec City mosque stepped up security to prevent another tragic attack

As soon as Hakim Chambaz walks into any mosque, he begins to plan his exit route.

A survivor of the 2017 attack on a mosque in Quebec City, Chambaz says he’s still scared for his safety five years later.

He lives with the fear that he may have to flee at any moment.

“First when I enter into a mosque, I just see where is the emergency exits,” he said. “I learn it by life.”

Chambaz and dozens of other worshippers were wrapping up evening prayers at the Islamic Cultural Centre on a chilly night in Quebec City when a shooter opened fire, emptying all his bullets.

Six people died and 19 others were seriously injured. Seventeen children lost a parent that night.

The six men who lost their lives were Ibrahima Barry, Mamadou Tanou Barry, Khaled Belkacemi, Aboubaker Thabti, Abdelkrim Hassane and Azzedine Soufiane.

Many of them were Chambaz’s friends.

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The Quebec City mosque completed renovations last year to strengthen security and protect its worshippers.

Chambaz remembers there being just one exit to escape the gunman.

“At this time, we’ve got just one emergency exit, so the person in the mosque were in panic moment, and they tried every direction,” he recounted.

After the tragedy, renovations and security upgrades became a top concern. More exits were added, and cameras overlooking the entrances were installed. The cameras are monitored at all times while worshippers pray.

The bullets that remained lodged in the walls – and the damage they caused to the mosque – are now gone.

And a concrete wall was added facing the street to prevent someone trying to ram the building with a vehicle. The wall also has smaller windows to prevent a shooter from firing into the mosque from outside – as convicted killer Alexandre Bissonnette did before entering the prayer room on Jan. 29, 2017.

“Terrible moment,” recalled Chambaz. “And you see persons laying down, injured, a lot of blood, and you can’t realize what is happening there.”

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Chambaz was hailed a hero after that night for actions that likely saved an eight-year-old girl from the killer’s bullets.

“She wanted to join her father,” he said. “But her father was laying just near the killer. I don’t know how, I just pulled the girl.”

Chambaz shielded the child with his body against a pillar in the mosque.

“I did my best because she was, she panicked. She watched her dad lying down and injured with a lot of blood.”

In 2020, those actions were recognized by the Canadian government. Chambaz was awarded the Governor General’s Medal of Bravery.

Quebec City mosque survivor Hakim Chambaz. (Credit: FACEBOOK/Hakim Chambaz)

After the attack that shook the province and the nation, some were afraid to return to the mosque, traumatized and scarred by the events that unfolded.

“Because you are of your mind that something can happen, the same that happened,” said Chambaz.

While the survivor tries to remain positive as the five-year anniversary of the shooting approaches, he says flashbacks of the fatal attack still haunt him.

“You have to live all your life with this feeling that you’re not secure.”