Gunman confirmed dead after Montreal rampage
CBC News
A gunman who opened fire in a downtown Montreal college Wednesday afternoon is dead "after police intervention," police confirmed at a news conference.
Police direct students away from the shooting scene at Dawson College in Montreal on Wednesday. (Peter McCabe/Canadian Press) Earlier reports had said as many as three shooters walked into Dawson College at 12:41 p.m. ET and began firing at students. Sources told local media outlets that two gunmen were dead.
"I cannot confirm there is another suspect at this time," Montreal police Chief Yves Delorme told reporters at about 4:30 p.m. ET.
Police said 20 people were wounded in the shooting rampage that terrorized students and staff at the college, a CEGEP serving about 10,000 students.
In a late-afternoon news conference, Montreal General Hospital officials said 11 people had been admitted with gunshot wounds, eight of them in critical condition.
Three others were taken to Jean Talon Hospital and one or two others were taken to the Jewish General Hospital.
Montreal police did not provide details on how the gunman died.
"Whether he did it to himself or not, I can't yet say," spokesman Yan Lafrenière said about an hour after the shooting ended.
Police said the motive is unknown.
"There is no racist connotation or no terrorist link as far as we know," Delorme said.
Television images showed police officers dragging a bloody body out of the main doors of the building, leaving a trail of blood on the street.
Students inside Dawson College told reporters they heard several shots in the building just after lunchtime.
Eyewitnesses say they saw a tall skinny man, wearing a black trench coat and a Mohawk haircut, walk into the cafeteria carrying a large gun. He apparently fired several shots.
'I thought this was fake'
Student Michel Boyer sought shelter behind a reception desk after seeing a gunman and fleeing from the vicinity of the shootings.
"I thought this was fake, and it was just an excuse to get out of class," he told CBC Newsworld. "I did run away as soon as I did see that it was real."
His voice shaking, he added, "It was the most scary thing that has ever happened to me."
Boyer said he saw at least one man holding a gun.
Police direct a running man to take cover during the shooting at Dawson College in downtown Montreal. (Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press) "I'm only 19 and to have flashes of your life and the people that you love going by you, it should not be allowed."
Student union representative Arielle Reid said she was in her office when the shooting began.
"I heard the shots and a student ran into my office," she told CBC Newsworld. "People don't know what is going on and they don't know what to do."
Students flee building
Hundreds of students fled the building, and the area was cordoned off. Police officers wearing bulletproof vests kept people away from the college.
"They're telling me, 'Go the other way, lady, you're in the line of fire,'" said CBC News reporter Nancy Wood at the scene.
Hundreds of officers surrounded the building in downtown Montreal, cordoning off a park facing the school, as well as the Alexis Nihon Plaza, a nearby shopping centre.
Police have finished combing the college floor by floor and room by room to secure the building, more than three hours after the first shots were heard. They've set up a security perimeter that spans Atwater, Sherbrooke and Maisonneuve streets.
Similarities to notorious Montreal shooting
Public transit officials have closed the subway system's green line, which serves Dawson College, in order to allow a SWAT team to sweep the underground stations.
A woman is taken from the shooting scene to a waiting ambulance. (Paul Chiasson/ Canadian Press) The shooting raised chilling memories of Dec. 6, 1989, when 25-year-old Marc Lepine gunned down 14 women at Montreal's École Polytechnique before fatally shooting himself.
Lepine roamed the school for 45 minutes, shouting, "I hate feminists," as he opened fire on the female engineering students.
His use of a 30-round magazine brought immediate calls for gun control. In response, the federal government introduced a national firearms registry.
Dawson students sheltered nearby
During the Dawson College shootings, students and staff sought refuge at nearby Concordia University.
The university's student union is running an emergency centre at the D.B Clarke auditorium at 1455 de Maisonneuve St. W., where psychologists are on hand to assist Dawson students and staff.
Medical workers with a local CLSC health clinic are also at Concordia to provide advice and support to people fleeing the shooting scene.
Students and staff will be in shock and experience symptoms similar to post-traumatic stress disorder, one worker told Radio-Canada's French television network. It's crucial that they talk about their experiences and express their emotions, she said Wednesday.
__________________ Sigs are for noobz.
Last edited by The Rover on Sep 13th, 2006 at 09:40 PM
Registered: Jun 2003
Location: Cute And Fluffy In My Tummy
I am int he industrial Design Program, our wing and class is RIGHT next to where it happen, we have big windows and allthought we did nto see any of it go down, this is what happened.
First off we herd shots comming from outside, we looked out and saw people running, I thought it was fireworks or something ebcause it sounded exactly like it.
then like half a minute after, there was some more noises form the inside, comming form the Atrium ike "TAK! TAK!" then TAK TAK TAK TAK TAK" about a minute, or more or less, I don't knwo after there wasz some gyu that came running and said "Get the hell out they are shouting!" But the teacher calmed us down and we close and baricaded the doors with a desk.
There was some more shooting and about 20 - 30 minutes after some cops Came in the window 9from the inside and Just told us to RUN to the exit and just keep going.
I went to Concordia, called up my perants, then got to the metro, but it was clsoed, so i walked to another stop far off, got on, got to the bus and went home.
It started at around 12:45
I don't know if you guys saw that "big" Girl crying her eyes out on TV saying:
"I was going Down the Escalators and they shot the person right next to me, So i ran to a classroom and they blocked the doors"
First off, the excalators only go UP, secondly, To get to classes you'd ahve to run threw the Atrium and past the shooter, in the other direction, there are no class rooms. (Unless she was tlaking about Oliver's but thats soemthing else)
Then there is the girl that was dressed in white "He was alone" and the very next sentence "Him and his friends"
Things That i gathered from actuall eye witnesses:
He Had a Semi automatic weapon he used outside, to clear off and then got in. Apperently he had a long balck Trenchcoat, and Managed to hide a Sub Machine Gun (Apperently an AK-47) which he used inside.
Everybody droppped to the ground, and he SHOT the people who where lying down.
Then the GTI (Swat) come in and shot him down.
The Police was in the Atrium scince the start.
There is 2 People dead, ONLY 2, The Shooter and a victim, 19 people (minus shooter) are In hospital ranging with wounds from Shot in the Gut to a scrapped neck.
i knew i could make that remark because of the fact that if you had been traumatized then i hardly think one of your first port of calls would be to post on an internet forum
i see they are already playing the subtle blame game on the media....it was reported on the BBC that the suspect...and i quote..."was wearing a black trench coat and a mohawk haircut"
yeah...because these 2 things are what make you go shoot people
i disagree kharma. i think....i know it was reported to stir up the columbine theme. trenchcoats+rock music+anticonformist=murder. that sort of thing...kneejerking still, though, just a different brand.
Sep 13th, 2006 09:36 PM
