Fatal shooting at Quebec election victory

(ROUGH CUT ONLY - NO REPORTER NARRATION)

A gunman shot dead one person inside the Montreal theatre where the leader of Quebec's separatist Parti Quebecois was addressing supporters in the wake of a narrow election win in the Canadian province, police said on Wednesday (September 5).

The incident was shocking for Canada, where crime rates are relatively low and political violence is unheard of.

The shooting eclipsed the news that the Parti Quebecois had only just defeated the ruling Liberals and would have to be content with a minority government, effectively ruling out another referendum on breaking away from Canada.

Pauline Marois, the first female premier of Quebec, had just told her supporters the province would one day be independent when her bodyguards rushed her from the stage. She later returned to finish her speech.

A Montreal police spokesman said a man around 50-years-old had entered the back of the Metropolis theatre at around midnight (0400 GMT) and shot two people. The suspect also set fire to the back of the building.

RDI television showed pictures of police subduing a large man with a rifle who was dressed in a black cape.