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I dont know if i should post this here but this is really affecting me. Its in my hometown and i never expected this. I still have friends that go to Dawson and i cant get a hold of them. Im sure they are ok, but what goes through someone's mind before he starts shooting on random people.
I am so disgusted by this!
http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/americ....ap/index.html
MONTREAL, Quebec (AP) -- At least one gunman opened fire Wednesday in the cafeteria of a Montreal college and wounded an unknown number of people before shooting himself, witnesses and police said.
Scores of students at Dawson College near downtown fled into the surrounding streets after the shooting broke out in the school of about 10,000. Some of them had bloody clothes.
CBC-TV showed police with guns drawn standing behind a police cruiser. (Watch what cops are doing to secure the 12-acre campus -- 5:25)
Martine Millette of the Montreal police said authorities did not know how many people had been shot. There also was uncertainty if there was more than one gunman.
Millette said the man later shot himself. Constable Philippe Gouin said, "In all probability, the suspect has committed suicide."
'The guy was shooting at people randomly'
Student Devansh Smri Vastava said he saw a man in military fatigues with "a big rifle" storm the school's cafeteria.
"He just started shooting at people," Vastava said, adding that he heard about 20 shots fired. He also said teachers ran through the halls telling students to get out.
Other witnesses spoke of a gunman wearing a black trench coat.
"We all ran upstairs. There were cops firing. It was so crazy," Vastava said. "I was terrified. The guy was shooting at people randomly. He didn't care; he was just shooting at everybody. I just got out."
Derick Osei, 19, said he walking down the stairs when he saw a man with a gun.
"He ... just started shooting up the place. I ran up to the third floor and I looked down and he was still shooting," Osei said. "He was hiding behind the vending machines, and he came out with a gun and started pointing and pointed at me. So I ran up the stairs. I saw a girl get shot in the leg."
Osei said people in the cafeteria were all lying on the floor.
Another student who gave her name as Chloe tearfully recounted seeing the gunman pointing a weapon at people.
"All of a sudden I turned around and saw a man who was all dressed in black," she told radio station 940 News.
"This dude with the clothes started pointing the gun at other people. He was right behind me. He turned around and went in the corner of the cafeteria," she said.
Another student told 940 News that she had seen two people who had been shot, including one who was hit in the neck. The student said a friend told her four people had been shot.
'89 shooting spurred tighter gun laws
Ingrid Keigan, a 17-year-old student, said she saw one person outside who had been shot in the chest.
A SWAT team and canine units were at the college, going floor by floor to look for victims, Sgt. Giuseppe Boccardi told CNN.
"Most of the students have exited the college grounds," he said.
People have also been evacuated from the nearby Alexis-Nihon shopping center.
Canada's worst mass shooting also happened in Montreal. Gunman Marc Lepin killed 14 women at the Ecole Polytechnic on December 6, 1989.
That shooting spurred efforts for tighter gun laws and greater awareness of societal violence -- particularly domestic abuse. Canada's tighter gun law was achieved mainly as the results of efforts by survivors and relatives of the victims.
Another shooting in Montreal occurred in 1992, when a Concordia University professor killed four colleagues.
Dawson College was the first English-language institution in Quebec's network of university preparatory colleges when it was founded in 1969.
It is the largest college of general and vocational education, known by its French acronym CEGEP, in the province.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
And
13 victims sent to hospital in Montreal shooting
Updated Wed. Sep. 13 2006 4:27 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
One suspected gunman is dead in a chaotic shooting scene at Dawson College in downtown Montreal, that has left up to 13 victims in hospital.
Police had earlier believed there were as many as three gunmen, as shots reportedly continued to be heard.
Of the 13 victims, officials said six are in critical condition, two are considered serious, and four are listed in stable condition. The condition of the remaining victim remains unknown.
CTV's Jed Kahane said police received a call about the shooting at just before 1 p.m. ET. Witnesses heard shots at about 12:45 ET that lasted for 30 minutes.
"He shot right at us. And when he shot at us we jumped and ran the other day," said student Ali Hussein. He added that one bullet struck a wall close to where he was standing.
Dawson College is located at the corner of Atwater and Sherbrooke in the heart of downtown Montreal.
Students told Kahane they saw someone roaming the halls with a gun, and heard at least 20 shots fired.
One student told Montreal radio station 940 News she was on the phone at the college's front entrance when she heard five gunshots and a window break. She walked into the hallway and was inches from the gunman.
"All of a sudden I turned around and saw a man dressed in black with a huge assault rifle," she said.
"People didn't know what was going on ... they thought it was a joke."
The man ran into the corner of the cafeteria to hide from police, she said.
A number of officers surrounded the school with guns drawn, while others helped to evacuate students from inside the English-language CEGEP school which has about 10,000 students.
Gary Clemence, a psychology teacher, said the college is "usually a really quiet, peaceful place. No problems, no knives, anything."
Some students and teachers barricaded themselves in classrooms, waiting for police to rescue them from the school.
As many as 40 students and staff were hiding on the seventh floor, including eyewitness Adam Perez, who spoke to CTV Newsnet.
"No one came to really warn us," said Perez. "Our first warning of the incident (came from) phone calls and text messages."
One student told 940 News she saw two people who had been shot, including one who had been hit in the neck.
Michel Boyer, a student at the college, told CTV Newsnet he saw the gunman in a hallway leading to the cafeteria.
"I saw the gunman who was dressed in black and at that time he was shooting at people. It was probably one of the most frightening moments of my life," Boyer said.
Images captured from a helicopter hovering over the scene showed hordes of students running frantically from the building.
"Many people are crying as they are coming out, worried about who might still be inside the building and shocked by what happened," said CTV's Genevieve Beauchemin, reporting from the scene.
A number of police vehicles surrounded what appeared to be a bloodsoaked sidewalk outside the school, and several yellow ambulance vehicles were seen speeding from the scene after victims were carried from the building on stretchers and loaded in the vehicles.
All classes at Dawson College have been cancelled.
Today's incident is horrifyingly reminiscent of another school shooting in Montreal. On Dec. 6, 1989,
Marc Lepine shot 27 female engineering students at the Ecole Polytechnique, killing 14, before fatally shooting himself. The mass murder prompted tighter gun laws, which included the creation of the controversial national firearms registry. It also prompted Parliament to create the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women in 1991, to coincide with the anniversary of the tragedy.
Family members of Dawson College students seeking more information can call (514) 280-2880 or (514) 280-2806.
Meanwhile, medical staff at the Montreal General Hospital Emergency Service are asking the public to avoid the hospital's emergency rooms, so doctors can treat the 12 victims.
Concerned family members can call a special hotline at the hospital: 514-843-2839.
MONTREAL, Quebec (AP) -- At least one gunman opened fire Wednesday in the cafeteria of a Montreal college and wounded an unknown number of people before shooting himself, witnesses and police said.
Scores of students at Dawson College near downtown fled into the surrounding streets after the shooting broke out in the school of about 10,000. Some of them had bloody clothes.
CBC-TV showed police with guns drawn standing behind a police cruiser. (Watch what cops are doing to secure the 12-acre campus -- 5:25)
Martine Millette of the Montreal police said authorities did not know how many people had been shot. There also was uncertainty if there was more than one gunman.
Millette said the man later shot himself. Constable Philippe Gouin said, "In all probability, the suspect has committed suicide."
'The guy was shooting at people randomly'
Student Devansh Smri Vastava said he saw a man in military fatigues with "a big rifle" storm the school's cafeteria.
"He just started shooting at people," Vastava said, adding that he heard about 20 shots fired. He also said teachers ran through the halls telling students to get out.
Other witnesses spoke of a gunman wearing a black trench coat.
"We all ran upstairs. There were cops firing. It was so crazy," Vastava said. "I was terrified. The guy was shooting at people randomly. He didn't care; he was just shooting at everybody. I just got out."
Derick Osei, 19, said he walking down the stairs when he saw a man with a gun.
"He ... just started shooting up the place. I ran up to the third floor and I looked down and he was still shooting," Osei said. "He was hiding behind the vending machines, and he came out with a gun and started pointing and pointed at me. So I ran up the stairs. I saw a girl get shot in the leg."
Osei said people in the cafeteria were all lying on the floor.
Another student who gave her name as Chloe tearfully recounted seeing the gunman pointing a weapon at people.
"All of a sudden I turned around and saw a man who was all dressed in black," she told radio station 940 News.
"This dude with the clothes started pointing the gun at other people. He was right behind me. He turned around and went in the corner of the cafeteria," she said.
Another student told 940 News that she had seen two people who had been shot, including one who was hit in the neck. The student said a friend told her four people had been shot.
'89 shooting spurred tighter gun laws
Ingrid Keigan, a 17-year-old student, said she saw one person outside who had been shot in the chest.
A SWAT team and canine units were at the college, going floor by floor to look for victims, Sgt. Giuseppe Boccardi told CNN.
"Most of the students have exited the college grounds," he said.
People have also been evacuated from the nearby Alexis-Nihon shopping center.
Canada's worst mass shooting also happened in Montreal. Gunman Marc Lepin killed 14 women at the Ecole Polytechnic on December 6, 1989.
That shooting spurred efforts for tighter gun laws and greater awareness of societal violence -- particularly domestic abuse. Canada's tighter gun law was achieved mainly as the results of efforts by survivors and relatives of the victims.
Another shooting in Montreal occurred in 1992, when a Concordia University professor killed four colleagues.
Dawson College was the first English-language institution in Quebec's network of university preparatory colleges when it was founded in 1969.
It is the largest college of general and vocational education, known by its French acronym CEGEP, in the province.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed
And
13 victims sent to hospital in Montreal shooting
Updated Wed. Sep. 13 2006 4:27 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
One suspected gunman is dead in a chaotic shooting scene at Dawson College in downtown Montreal, that has left up to 13 victims in hospital.
Police had earlier believed there were as many as three gunmen, as shots reportedly continued to be heard.
Of the 13 victims, officials said six are in critical condition, two are considered serious, and four are listed in stable condition. The condition of the remaining victim remains unknown.
CTV's Jed Kahane said police received a call about the shooting at just before 1 p.m. ET. Witnesses heard shots at about 12:45 ET that lasted for 30 minutes.
"He shot right at us. And when he shot at us we jumped and ran the other day," said student Ali Hussein. He added that one bullet struck a wall close to where he was standing.
Dawson College is located at the corner of Atwater and Sherbrooke in the heart of downtown Montreal.
Students told Kahane they saw someone roaming the halls with a gun, and heard at least 20 shots fired.
One student told Montreal radio station 940 News she was on the phone at the college's front entrance when she heard five gunshots and a window break. She walked into the hallway and was inches from the gunman.
"All of a sudden I turned around and saw a man dressed in black with a huge assault rifle," she said.
"People didn't know what was going on ... they thought it was a joke."
The man ran into the corner of the cafeteria to hide from police, she said.
A number of officers surrounded the school with guns drawn, while others helped to evacuate students from inside the English-language CEGEP school which has about 10,000 students.
Gary Clemence, a psychology teacher, said the college is "usually a really quiet, peaceful place. No problems, no knives, anything."
Some students and teachers barricaded themselves in classrooms, waiting for police to rescue them from the school.
As many as 40 students and staff were hiding on the seventh floor, including eyewitness Adam Perez, who spoke to CTV Newsnet.
"No one came to really warn us," said Perez. "Our first warning of the incident (came from) phone calls and text messages."
One student told 940 News she saw two people who had been shot, including one who had been hit in the neck.
Were you on the scene?
Send your images, with descriptive captions, to newsonline@ctv.ca Please include your name and phone number.
The student said a friend told her four people had been shot. Send your images, with descriptive captions, to newsonline@ctv.ca Please include your name and phone number.
Michel Boyer, a student at the college, told CTV Newsnet he saw the gunman in a hallway leading to the cafeteria.
"I saw the gunman who was dressed in black and at that time he was shooting at people. It was probably one of the most frightening moments of my life," Boyer said.
Images captured from a helicopter hovering over the scene showed hordes of students running frantically from the building.
"Many people are crying as they are coming out, worried about who might still be inside the building and shocked by what happened," said CTV's Genevieve Beauchemin, reporting from the scene.
A number of police vehicles surrounded what appeared to be a bloodsoaked sidewalk outside the school, and several yellow ambulance vehicles were seen speeding from the scene after victims were carried from the building on stretchers and loaded in the vehicles.
All classes at Dawson College have been cancelled.
Today's incident is horrifyingly reminiscent of another school shooting in Montreal. On Dec. 6, 1989,
Marc Lepine shot 27 female engineering students at the Ecole Polytechnique, killing 14, before fatally shooting himself. The mass murder prompted tighter gun laws, which included the creation of the controversial national firearms registry. It also prompted Parliament to create the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women in 1991, to coincide with the anniversary of the tragedy.
Family members of Dawson College students seeking more information can call (514) 280-2880 or (514) 280-2806.
Meanwhile, medical staff at the Montreal General Hospital Emergency Service are asking the public to avoid the hospital's emergency rooms, so doctors can treat the 12 victims.
Concerned family members can call a special hotline at the hospital: 514-843-2839.
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