Who are the victims in the Quebec City stabbing attack?

The texts lit up Michel Clermont'scellphone as it satforgotten in his car. His son, Anthony, triedto alert his fatherabout his sister's death for nearly an hour on Sunday.

Finally, his father'sgirlfriend picked up the phone.

"Is my dad with you? I need to talk to him.I need to talk to him," Anthony Clermontsaid.

Michel Clermonthad seen the news about what had happened in his older sister's neighbourhood that morning.

Now, he was learning that his favourite person in the family, the one with whom he'd catch up with through weekly phone calls she in the old capital's famousRemparts neighbourhood andhe in scenic La Malbaie, Que.wasgone.

"We were so close, so close," Clermont recounted through muffled sobs Monday afternoon as he visited a memorial for the victims killed during a stabbing attack on Halloween night.

The Quebec City coroner's office has identified the two peopleas Michel Clermont's sister,Suzanne Clermont, 61, and Franois Duchesne, 56.

BothClermont, a hairdresser, and Duchesne, director of communications and marketing at the Muse national desbeaux-arts duQubec(MNBAQ),were residents of the city.

"I just can't believe something like this can happen. She was so wonderful," MichelClermontsaid, recounting how much his sister loved living in the old city and had been in thatneighbourhoodfor nearly 25 years.

Police Chief Robert Pigeon said Sunday morning that police believe the targets inthe attack, which also left five others injured, were chosen randomly.

WATCH| Brother of stabbing victim expresses shock, sadness:

Brother of stabbing victim expresses shock, sadness

4 years ago

Duration 0:49

Michel Clermont and his partner Brigitte Veuilleux said losing Suzanne Clermont was devastating.

Officers arrested 24-year-old Carl Girouardof Sainte-Thrse, Que., north of Montreal,in connection with the attack. He has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and five counts of attempted murder.

On Sunday morning, friends placed a bouquet of flowers in front of the buildingwhere Suzanne Clermont who workedat Salon Les Z'ongles,just a few blocks away lived with her longtime partner, Jacques. Michel Clermontsays Jacques is still in hospital and that the family is still awaiting news.

"Everyone feels very vulnerable, but at the same time we're all very sad, because she was our ray of sunshine," said Francine Matteau, who livesa few doors away but did not witness the attack.

She and Suzanne Clermont were part of a close-knit circle of perhaps a dozen friends who had commandeered a public space across Rue des Remparts, where most dwellings don't have backyards or balconies, for their physically distanced pandemic gatherings.

"Our little group from the neighbourhood, which we call the little village ... we had dedicated this space, between the cannons, as our living room. So we would bring our chairs and have a 5 7, and sometimes they'd drag on a little bit," Matteau told Radio-Canada.

Deputy Premier Genevive Guilbault, assisting a vigil on that same street in Clermont's honour Monday night, said she'd been to one such gathering and knew Clermont well.

WATCH | Neighbour of Quebec City Halloween stabbings victim remembers friend:

Neighbour of Quebec City Halloween stabbings victim remembers friend

4 years ago

Duration 0:34

Lucie Painchaud, one of Suzanne Clermont's friends and neighbours, says she was shocked to find out about her death.

"Suzanne was an extraordinary, adorable woman; she was always in a good mood, smiling, happy; she radiated happiness at all times, you know," Guilbault told reporters at the vigil.

Claire Thriault, who was also at the vigil, was a friend of Clermont'sand a customer at her salon.

"She was always talking to everybody in the neighbourhood," Thriaultsaid, adding Clermont was the president of the local citizen's group and would organize activities and had a knack for bringing people together.

Lucie Painchaud was another one of Clermont's friends and neighbours. She and Clermont bonded during the summer months, when neighbours would gather at the end of the street for some social interaction amid COVID-19 restrictions.

"She was such a kind and sympathetic person," Painchaud said. "It's unbelievable."

The attack occurredjust outside Clermont's front door, where she regularly stepped out to smoke a cigarette before bedtime.

Duchesne, who had gone out for a run, died a short while earlier on rue du Trsor, near the Chteau Frontenac hotel.

He was appreciated by the people who knew him, said Carol Proulx and Sylvain Duchesne, co-owners of a clothing store on St-Jean Street, who knew both victims. Clermont worked in the building right next door to their store.

"Finding out how close to home this was, how unexpected, is very surprising," Proulx said.

Sylvain Duchesne saidhe's in disbelief that he will never see the two again.

"Barbarism like that is frustrating. It's shocking," he said.

The MNBAQcommunity is in shock after Duchesne's death, a museum spokesperson said in a statement.

"The entire team at the Muse national des beaux-arts du Qubecwholeheartedly supports the family and loved ones of Franois, with whom we sympathize, but also with the families and loved ones of all the victims of this inexplicable tragedy," the statement said.

Jean-Luc Murray,the museum's director general, is expected to give a statement early this week.

Nathalie Roy, Quebec's minister of culture, offered her condolences to all of the victims' familiesand said the cultural community is shaken to hear of Duchesne's death.

The identities of the five other victims, whoincluded two local residents who are French nationals, are covered bya publication ban.