Quebec City mosque shooter told police he wanted to prevent terrorist attack

The man responsible for killing six Muslims inside a Quebec City mosque says he started shooting into the crowd of worshippers because he wanted to save people from a terrorist attack.

During his interrogation the day after Jan. 29, 2017 shooting, Alexandre Bissonnette told Sgt. Simon Girard, a Quebec City police investigator, that "maybe, thanks to what I did, there will be hundreds of people saved."

A video of the interrogation was played Friday during the third day of sentencing hearings.

The 28-year-old pleaded guilty in Quebec Superior Court in March to six counts of first-degree murder and six counts of attempted murder.

In the video, Bissonnette explained how he had dealt with depression and anxiety problems since he was 14 years old.

The morning after the attack was supposed to be Bissonnette's first day back at his job, at Héma-Québec, where he looked for potential donors for the organization, which manages the province's blood supply.

Bissonnette said he was not ready to go back to work, but said several times, "This has nothing to do with it," as Girard asked if he was ever bullied at his office.

Three weeks earlier, Bissonnette received a medical note granting him leave from work because of an anxiety disorder.

He was prescribed Paroxetine, he said, to replace the Fluvoxamine pills he was taking, which he didn't think were strong enough.

"I couldn't go on, with my job and my studies," he said.

Bissonnette had several suicidal episodes since high school, he said, but never told anyone.

"I always dealt with my own problems," he said, explaining that he didn't want to worry his parents.

Bissonnette said his anxiety grew when the federal government said it would welcome asylum seekers fleeing the United States.

He said he had become obsessed with the idea his parents, his family, and himself, would be killed "by terrorists."

"I had to do something, it was torturing me inside."