Pauline Marois shooting incident: Quebec premier a target at victory speech

(CNN) -- A gunman targeting Quebec's newly elected premier opened fire during her victory speech at a Montreal concert hall, killing one person and wounding another, police said Wednesday.

Pauline Marois, whose separatist center-left party won the provincial elections, was not injured. Security guards rushed her off stage when gunfire rang out around midnight Tuesday, police said.

As police dragged the man to a cruiser, he shouted in French: "The English are waking up!" CNN affiliate CBC reported. The suspect appeared to be wearing a bathrobe or housecoat.

Marois' party, Parti Quebecois, wants the French-speaking province to secede from Canada and become its own country. Marois, who will become the province's first female premier, and her party defeated the incumbent Liberal party.

Montreal police Commander Ian Lafreniere confirmed Marois was the target of the gunman, a 62-year-old man whose identity has not yet been released by authorities.

According to Lafreniere, the assailant had two guns with him during the attack at the Metropolis concert venue.

"Then he went out and set a fire at the door. The fire was extinguished by some police officers who were there."

One person died in the shooting. Police have not yet released the victim's identity, saying family members may not yet have been notified. The second shooting victim suffered non-life threatening injuries, according to Lafreniere.

Minutes after Marois' security team hurried her off stage, the 63-year-old returned to thank her supporters and asked the crowd to calmly leave the room.

Quebec voters first elected a separatist government in 1976, and since that time the province has quarreled with the English-speaking majority in the rest of Canada over its position in the country.

During her victory speech, Marois told English-speaking Quebec residents that their rights would be respected, CBC reported.

"We share the same history, and I want us to shape together our future," she said in English.

Wednesday morning, police searched the suspect's vehicle and completed interviews with 15 witnesses, Lafreniere said. They had not yet talked to the suspect and do not know the motive for the attack.

Lafreniere said he could not confirm if police were aware of any threats before the shooting. He also said he could not say whether Marois' security detail would be increased.

CNN's Paula Newton contributed to this report.

 
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