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Bullet holes were found in the windows of a Winnipeg mosque that was targeted while people were inside Wednesday night, a Muslim organization says.
The Rahma Islamic Centre on Watt Street released a statement on social media condemning the “disturbing attack,” which “has deeply shaken our volunteers, community, children, and staff.”
“Our centre exists to provide a place of community, belonging, and peace. To have that sense of safety violated by what appear to be deliberate acts of violence is profoundly disturbing.”
It’s believed people in a vehicle fired shots at the mosque on Wednesday night, the National Council of Canadian Muslims — a non-profit that advocates for civil liberties and human rights — said in a news release.
Security video from that night showed two people later walking up to the centre, with one person attacking the building’s walls with what appears to be a blunt object, the council said.
Winnipeg police say passing police officers saw freshly broken windows at the Rahma Islamic Centre at about 11:30 p.m.
Officers learned that earlier that night, a vehicle had driven by the mosque and a gun “was potentially discharged in the direction of the mosque,” the Winnipeg Police Service said in a Thursday news release.
Winnipeg police say passing officers noticed damaged windows at the mosque around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday. (Rudy Gauer/CBC)
Later, two people walked up to the centre and broke more windows with an unknown object, police said.
Police were told that before those incidents, the same two people had passed by the mosque earlier Wednesday night and shouted racist comments at people there.
‘Everyone’s very shaken’
Steven Zhou, a spokesperson for the National Council of Canadian Muslims, says the people who attend the centre “have a tough time wrapping their heads around this kind of incident.”
“We hear about things that happened in some other cities or whatever as an abstract problem, but I think everyone’s very shaken that this thing’s kind of hitting home.”
Zhou says the council is noticing an uptick in anti-Muslim harassment across Canada, especially in the past month or so.
“We’re kind of noticing almost like a kind of crisis moment with this problem across the country when it comes to threats, vandalism, various other kinds of harassment against Muslims across the country.”
Winnipeg police are treating the incidents as potential-hate motivated crimes. No suspects have been identified and no arrests have been made, a police spokesperson said.
Police say a firearm ‘was potentially discharged’ at the mosque. (Rudy Gauer/CBC)
Police say they intend to increase patrols and a police presence at the Islamic centre and in and around other mosques in the area.
Damage to the mosque is estimated at more than $3,000, police said.
Community representatives and elected officials spoke at a gathering at the mosque Thursday evening.