Amqui residents still in shock after tragedy

More information was released Tuesday about the victims who were struck by a pickup truck in the small Quebec town of Amqui in the Lower St. Lawrence region.

Quebec provincial police spokesperson Claude Dorion said that Jean Lafreniere, 73, and Gerald Charest, 65, were killed when they were walking on the side of the road. Nine others were injured, including a baby less than a year old and a three-year-old toddler.

The children were seriously injured but the injuries are not life-threatening.

Investigators with expertise analyzing crashes are on the scene to determine how fast the driver was going and how long he was on Highway 132 before the vehicle struck the pedestrians. 

On Monday afternoon, 38-year-old Steeve Gagnon was arrested and is likely to face first-degree murder charges, said Doiron. He is expected to appear in court Tuesday.

Dorion said it appears to be a premeditated act and that the suspect was not known to police. He added that the driver admitted to the crime and went directly to the local police station. 

The Bloc MP for Avignon–La Mitis–Matane–Matapédia, Kristina Michaud, said she was shocked to hear the news.

The 30-year-old federal politician was born in the small, peaceful community of 6,000 people.

“Still reeling from the events of this afternoon in Amqui,” she wrote on Twitter. “My thoughts are with the injured, witnesses, and their loved ones.”

Like other citizens of the city, Michaud told The Canadian Press that she was worried about her own mother, who goes down the street to take her walks.

“Here in Amqui, when you hear a police, ambulance or fire siren, you stick your nose out the window because you think, ‘Who is that? We must know this person,'” she said. “Yesterday, it was several people we knew. It’s extremely disturbing. The whole community wishes it was a bad dream.”

With files from The Canadian Press.