Gunman opens fire at Montreal college One victim dies from wounds, gunman shot dead
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- Date: 13 Sep 2006 17:59:07 -0700
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=1dc31f5a-940d-4147-b5c7-d693b38f4f35&k=66350
Gunman opens fire at Montreal college
One victim dies from wounds, gunman shot dead
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One gunmen opened fire Wednesday inside downtown Montreal's Dawson
College Wednesday. The gunman was shot dead by police.
Photograph by : Canadian Press
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Montreal Gazette
Published: Wednesday, September 13, 2006
A woman in her 20s has died of her injuries after being shot by a
gunman who walked into Dawson College and opened fire this afternoon.
The woman - one of 11 people who suffered gunshot wounds - died
just before 6 p.m. in hospital, Radio-Canada reported.
The incident, reminiscent of the Polytechnique shooting in 1989,
started just outside an entrance to Dawson's downtown campus on de
Maisonneuve Blvd. near Atwater Ave. The first shots were fired shortly
after 12:30 p.m.
By late afternoon, police confirmed the gunman had been shot and killed
by police.
The Montreal General Hospital said it admitted 11 victims, including
eight who were in critical condition. Two victims were taken to the
Jewish General Hospital. In all 20 people were treated for injuries.
Witnesses said a man dressed in dark clothing and wearing combat boots
and a Mohawk haircut removed an assault weapon from his car and entered
the CEGEP before 1 p.m.
building facing the CEGEP, Andrea Young saw police drag a man out ofFrom her office window on the ninth floor of the Alexis Nihon office
the school onto de Maisonneuve Blvd. around 1:30 p.m.
"They were dragging him by the arm," said Young, 24, who works for an
export company in the building. "He was totally limp and there was
blood pouring from his head. He was dressed completely in black with
dark boots on. He was very seriously wounded.
"They handcuffed him, turned him over and he wasn't moving. Then,
they covered his body."
The first 911 call reporting shots fired inside the college came in at
12:45 p.m. Within seconds, 911 was flooded with 400 calls about shots
fired.
The first shots were fired on the second floor in the cafeteria
Teachers usher students into classrooms.
Nikola Guidi was in the Dawson cafeteria shortly before 1 p.m. when he
heard two or three shots ring out. He hit the ground and then saw a
young man dressed with a mohawk hair cut and a black trench coat
carrying an automatic rifle.
As students crawled on the floor around him, the gunman backed into a
corner and fired several shots, hitting three students, The 17-year-old
student said.
"I was right beside (my friend) when she was shot," said Guidi, whose
white T-shirt was drenched with his friend's blood.
His friend Lisa was shot in the arm and leg. Guidi dragged her to
safety after the shooting and tried to staunch the bloodflow by taking
off his belt before the paramedics arrived to tend to her.
Seconds after the shooting, two police officers entered the cafeteria
and ordered the gunman to drop his weapon, Guidi said.
The gunman replied: "Get the f--k away from here," the student
reported.
Guidi then fled the building.
After the shooting, pandemonium broke out on streets outside Dawson.
Hundreds of panic-stricken students and teachers fled from the college
in tears, many trying to contact friends on cell phones.
Another student was collecting her belongings from her locker - one
floor below the cafeteria - when she saw a man dressed in a black
trench coat firing shots.
"Someone fell and we all ran to try and get away from him," the sobbing
student said.
When she and her friend left the school via an exit on de Maisonneuve
Blvd., they saw an injured man lying on the sidewalk.
"The police were there and they were taking off his sweater," the
student said. "There was blood all around his stomach."
Shortly after 1:30 p.m. a large group of hysterical students charged
down Ste. Catherine St. after someone reported hearing gunshots near
Atwater.
Many students were sobbing as they tried to reach their parents on
their cell phones.
Kayla Diorio was sitting in the atrium near the entrance with a friend
waiting for her next class when gunfire rang out.
Students thought the first gunshot was firecrackers, Diorio said.
"Then when the second, third, forth started going off, everybody was on
the ground."
Diorio said the "tall, pale" gunman, who was dressed in black, cursed
and yelled at them, telling them to get back.
He was wedged inside an alcove beside a vending machine with his gun
pointed out, she said.
"At first he was just shooting into the air," said a shaken Diorio
later.
People on the ground held onto each other and crawling away from the
shooter, she said.
"There must have been about 60, 70 people in the atrium at the time."
"A guy next to me was telling me: 'It's going to be OK," she said.
"Everybody was screaming and crying. I've never seen that many people
cry ... guys were crying. Everybody was shaking," she said.
There were already a few police officer inside telling them to get
away, she said.
Diorio crawled to a tiny storage space in the kitchen where she huddled
with about a dozen people - students and two cafeteria employees.
"Everybody was crying," she said.
For Fabio Viera, yesterday started out as just another day. Everything
changed about 12:45 p.m.
"I was just coming out of class," said the 19-year-old, a business
student at Dawson. He was suddenly startled by a loud bang behind him.
"I turned around and saw a man in black standing there. Everyone
started screaming," Viera said. "He had a big rifle in his hands."
Viera whirled back around and started to run as more shots were fired.
"Someone fell on the ground near me," he recalled. "I don't know if
the person were shot, or trampled by the crowd."
Viera and about 25 others rushed into an empty room, where he promptly
called 911.
"We could still hear gunshots. We peeked out into the corridor, but it
looked like nobody was there. So we made a run for it."
Like many others, the student was visibly shaken as he gathered with
friends outside the college.
Omid Zahedi had been on his way to class when panicked students
suddenly began flooding out of the building.
"I went with the flow," Zahedi said. "Then, I saw a guy I know bleeding
on the sidewalk."
"I was on my way to the same class as he was," the 18-year-old said,
visibly stunned.
When Michel Lamer's class was interrupted by the sounds of running
and screaming in the hallway outside, he thought it was a joke.
"Class was over, we were all about to leave," the 21-year-old said.
"Suddenly, a guy ran up to us and told us to get back inside."
Students pushed three tables up against the door to barricade it and
listened as gunshots rang out in the college.
"About 30 minutes later, some cops knocked on the door and told us it
was OK to come out," Lamer said.
.
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