'It's a scar': Mosque in Mississauga looks to beef up security after attack

Members of a mosque in Mississauga, Ont., arestill coming to grips with what happened after a man wielding an axe and bear spray attacked congregants during anearly-morning prayer, a volunteer at the mosque who witnessed theincident said Sunday.

"We're all trying to shake it off," said Noorani Sairally, who was one of the roughly 20 men praying in a room at the Dar Al-Tawheed Islamic Centre when the attack unfolded on Saturday morning.

"It's a scar that is going to take a long time before it goes away. But at the same time, we're not going to let this deter us from coming to the mosque."

WATCH | Man arrested at Ontario mosque after attacking worshippers:

Man arrested at Ontario mosque after attacking worshippers

3 years ago

Duration 2:12

Police were called to the Dar Al-Tawheed Islamic Centre in Mississauga, Ont., west of Toronto, on Saturday morning after a man attacked the congregation gathered for prayer with bear spray while 'brandishing a hatchet.' Worshippers restrained the attacker, who was later taken into custody.

When he heard screaming shortly after the prayer began, Sairally's mind automatically turned to other attacks on mosques: the 2017 shooting in Quebec City, and the ones in 2019 in Christchurch, New Zealand.

But when he turned around, he said, he saw a man with a can ofbear spray in one hand and an axe in another, who started sprayingthe congregants that were assembled in two rows.

Sairally said a few men in one row got sprayed, while some in the other row reacted quickly to subdue the man. Others ranoutside because the spray made it "unbearable to breathe," headded.

"There was one young congregant who immediately noticed the axein [the man's]hand and immediately knocked it off to the ground. And then that's when everybody kind of jumped on him to wrestle himto the ground," Sairally recalled.

"It was a very frightening, scary moment."

'Incredibly courageous and heroic'

Due to the remnants of the spray in the air, Sairally said themen dragged the attacker to another praying area and pinned him downuntil police arrived.

He alleged the man also had a bag containing "many" otherweapons, including another axe, knives, other sharp objects and abear spray canister.

Now, the mosque is turning its attention to security.

"We want to make sure that we have an internal security systemput in place to make sure all the families that come in with thechildren and so forth feel safe and they can worship with peace andtranquillity," Sairallysaid.

In a phone interview, Ibrahim Hindy, imam at the Dar Al-TawheedIslamic Centre who is currently in Saudi Arabia, called the men whosubdued the attacker "incredibly courageous and heroic," saying hewas thankful that nobody was seriously hurt or worse.

Peel Regional Police said Mohammad Moiz Omar, 24, was arrested in connection to the incident, which is believed to be "hate-motivated," and appeared in court in Brampton, Ont., on Saturday.

Manfacing several charges

Police said Omar is facing several charges including assault witha weapon, administering a noxious substance with intent to endangerlife or cause bodily harm, possession of a weapon for a dangerouspurpose, uttering threats, carrying a concealed weapon and mischiefto religious property.

Hindy said the mosque has asked police to increase their presencein the area in the coming days.

The mosque is also considering various ways to beef up itssecurity to prevent similar incidents from happening, he said,especially with the holy month of Ramadan approaching in two weeks.

"We basically were under two lockdowns during Ramadan, so peopleare really excited for the first time to be back at the mosque. Andnow there's all this worry ... about security," Hindy said.

"Do we have to take steps of locking the mosque after a certaintime, which then leaves people outside of the mosque, which is kindof the same thing as a lockdown? Yeah, I mean, those are theconversations we're having right now."

Several politicians and community members have shared theirsupport with the mosque and the Muslim community in the wake of theincident, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier DougFord.

On Sunday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh chimed in as well.

"Love, strength and solidarity to Muslims across Canada," Singhsaid in a tweet.

"As we hear about the chilling account of yet another Mosque andits congregants being subject to a violent attack you are notalone."

The incident occurred less than a year after four members of aMuslim family, who were out for an evening stroll, were run down andkilled by a vehicle in London, Ont., in what police have called anattack motivated by hate.

"Unfortunately, there's a target on our backs, and we have to beincredibly vigilant and always look out for signs of unusualbehaviour," Hindy said.

This story was produced with the financial assistance of theFacebook and Canadian Press News Fellowship