Deadly shooting mars new Quebec premier’s victory rally

Paul Chiasson / The Canadian Press via AP

Parti Quebecois Leader Pauline Marois is whisked off stage as she delivers her victory speech in Montreal on Tuesday.

By NBC News staff and wire reports

MONTREAL -- A masked gunman opened fire during a midnight victory rally where the leader of Quebec's separatist Parti Quebecois was celebrating a narrow election win in the Canadian province, killing one person and wounding another.

Pauline Marois, newly elected as the first female premier of Quebec, was whisked off the stage by guards while giving her speech and was uninjured. It was not clear if the gunman was trying to shoot Marois, whose party favors separation for the French-speaking province from Canada.

Montreal police Cmdr. Ian Lafreniere identified the gunman only as a 50-year-old man and said he opened fire in the back of the hall while Marois was giving her victory speech to hundreds of supporters at the Metropolis auditorium. She had just declared her firm conviction that Quebec needs to be a sovereign country before she was pulled off the stage.More >>