Quebec lawmakers held a moment of silence Wednesday to mark the 35th anniversary of an attack at the National Assembly that left three dead and 13 injured.
On May 8, 1984, Canadian Armed Forces Cpl. Denis Lortie entered the National Assembly armed.
Lortie said he wanted to kill then-premier Rene Levesque and other Parti Quebecois members, but the legislature was not sitting that morning, avoiding what could have been a massacre.
Three people were killed -- legislature messengers Camille Lepage and Georges Boyer as well as Roger Lefrancois, an employee of Quebec's chief electoral officer.
Lortie, who was wearing military fatigues, eventually sat down in the Speaker's chair.
That's when Rene Jalbert, the sergeant-at-arms and a former soldier himself, entered the chamber and persuaded Lortie to let others pinned down in the chamber leave. He had Lortie follow him to his office and eventually got him to surrender.
