Police investigating double murder in Quebec’s Bas-St-Laurent region

Quebec provincial police are investigating after two women were shot and killed Thursday evening in the parking lot of a restaurant in Rivière-du-Loup, in Quebec’s Bas-St-Laurent region.

Witnesses contacted emergency services at around 10:45 p.m. after hearing what they believed to be gunshots near the restaurant parking lot.

Responding officers found two women inside a vehicle who were seriously injured and appeared to have been shot.

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One of the victims died at the scene, while the other died a short time later in hospital.

No arrests had been made as of Friday morning.

Quebec provincial police are still working to identify the victims and say it’s too early to discuss the circumstances surrounding the crime.

Newly-appointed Domestic Security Minister Guy Jr. Lapointe offered his condolences to the loved ones of the two victims.

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“Violence claims too many victims in Quebec, and beyond each tragedy, it is the public’s sense of security that suffers every time,” he wrote on social media.

Lapointe, who was sworn in as minister on Wednesday, said he was “determined to combat violence and ensure that every Quebecer can feel safe.”