MISSISSAUGA (Ontario) — Worshippers at dawn prayer in a suburb of Toronto tackled and subdued a 24-year-old man who allegedly entered their mosque and attacked people with bear spray on Saturday, according to local police.
Peel Regional Police said the man walked into the Dar Al-Tawheed Islamic Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, and allegedly “discharged bear spray towards people in the mosque while brandishing a hatchet just before 7 am”.
Speaking on behalf of the mosque, Nadia Hasan of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, said a group of about 20 men were praying when the man sprayed them.
Some of the men turned around and they very bravely decided that they were not going to let him attack them, she said. “They tackled him to the ground and apprehended him until the police showed up.”