Quebec stabbing: Man charged over deadly Halloween sword attack

Police arrested the suspect in the early hours of Sunday morning

A man has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder after a sword attack in Canada's Quebec City on Halloween night.

Carl Girouard, 24, was also charged with five counts of attempted murder.

Police said an initial probe found that Mr Girouard, who wore medieval clothes during the attack, was not affiliated with any extremist groups.

The two victims were named as François Duchesne, 56, and Suzanne Clermont, 61. Five people were injured.

The attack took place in the historic Old Quebec neighbourhood of the French-speaking capital of the Quebec province.

Police chief Robert Pigeon said the attack was thought to have been premeditated, adding that the suspect, from the Montreal suburbs, came to the city with "the intention of doing the most damage possible".

"Dressed in medieval costume and armed with a Japanese sword, everything leads us to believe he chose his victims at random," Mr Pigeon said.

The suspect had spoken of conducting an attack "in a medical context" five years ago, but was not known to police and did not have a criminal record, police said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reacted to the attack on Twitter:

First reports of the incident near the city's national assembly came through shortly before 22:30 on Saturday (03:30 GMT on Sunday).

The suspect was arrested near the Espace 400e business park.

Quebec's Le Soleil newspaper reported he was lying on the ground, barefoot and hypothermic, when he was arrested. He surrendered to police without any resistance, it said.

Following his arrest, the suspect was taken to hospital for "evaluation".