Sept. 13, 2006. At least one gunman in a black trench coat opened fire Wednesday in the cafeteria of a Montreal college and wounded an unknown number of people, witnesses and police said. (AP PHOTO/CP, Paul Chiasson)
Posted on 09/13/2006 10:42:27 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Edited on 09/13/2006 2:49:00 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
MONTREAL A gunman in a black trench coat and sporting a mohawk haircut opened fire Wednesday at a Montreal college and wounded at least 20 people _ six critically _ before he apparently was killed by police, witnesses and authorities said.
Scores of panicked students at Dawson College near downtown fled into the surrounding streets after the shooting broke out at the school of about 10,000. Some had clothes stained with blood.
Police spokesman Ean Lafreniere said there was just one gunman at the school and the search for any others was over.
Although police initially suggested the gunman had killed himself, Police Director Yvan DeLorme later said at a news conference that "based on current information, the suspect was killed by police."
CBC-TV showed police with guns drawn standing behind a police cruiser as a SWAT team swarmed the 12-acre campus. A bloody body covered in a yellow sheet lay next to a police cruiser near an entrance to a school building.
Montreal General Hospital said 11 people were admitted, including six who were in critical condition. The other nine were taken to two other hospitals.
Witnesses said a man wearing a black trench coat entered the school cafeteria and opened fire wordlessly.
Derick Osei, 19, said he was walking down the stairs to the second- floor cafeteria 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.
"I saw the gunman who was dressed in black and at that time he was shooting at people," student Michel Boyer told CTV. "I immediately hit the floor. It was probably one of the most frightening moments of my life."
"He was shooting randomly, I didn't know what he was shooting at, but everyone was screaming get out of the building," Boyer said. "Everybody was in tears. Everybody was so worried for their own safety for their own lives."
Raamias Hernandez, 19, said he had just finished his class when he saw everybody starting to run.
He said the gunman was dressed in a black jacket and had a mohawk haircut. Hernandez said he started to take pictures on a camera cell phone with his friend and the suspect saw them and started shooting.
Student Devansh Smri Vastava said he saw a man in military fatigues with "a big rifle" storm the 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.
"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."
A SWAT team and canine units were dispatched to the school, going floor by floor to look for victims, Sgt. Giuseppe Boccardi told CNN.
People also were evacuated from two nearby shopping centers.
Canada's worst mass shooting also happened in Montreal. Gunman Marc Lepine killed 14 women at the Ecole Polytechnic on Dec. 6, 1989, before shooting himself.
The 25-year-old Lepine roamed the halls of the school firing a rifle, specifically targeting women whom he claimed in a suicide note had ruined his life. Nine other women and four men were wounded.
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 It is the largest college of general and vocational education, known by its French acronym CEGEP, in the province.
Sept. 13, 2006. At least one gunman in a black trench coat opened fire Wednesday in the cafeteria of a Montreal college and wounded an unknown number of people, witnesses and police said. (AP PHOTO/CP, Paul Chiasson)
CBC and FOX are behind.
According to CJAD
situation under control
and it is beginning to seem certain
there only was one gunman,
the Punk.
Looks like they only have "trained guards" at Dawson College. The website is being overwhelmed.
So?
There was a gunfight
between a policeman and the gunman.
20 shots fired.
This is why many people thought
there were several gunmen.
According to a witness who is being interviewed on CJAD right now.
He was wearing a trenchcoat.
He was white.
According to an eye-witness.
I heard another report that some people were being cited for smoking near a bldg entrance right before this all happened...and PD was already onscene for that.
Is the "Punk" the one wearing all black or the military fatigues, or did he change clothes?
cnn what are you doing to yourself?
Do you have a clue as to what "gun control" laws are in place in Canada?
The nerve of these gunmen to use outlawed guns!!! How on earth will the gun control proponents rationalize this?
With the passage of the 1995 Firearms Act, Canada established a national registry of all firearms and their owners.
The Act required Canadian gun owners to apply for a license by January 1, 2001, from the Canadian Firearms Centre, a branch of the Justice Department, and register their guns with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) by the beginning of 2003. Associated amendments to the Criminal Code in 1996 increased the penalties for using firearms to commit crimes and for the illegal trafficking and smuggling of guns.
The registration of all handguns has been required by federal law since 1934, and since 1968 permits to carry them have been restricted to a few specific circumstances, for example, use in target practice or competition, protection in extreme cases where police protection isn't adequate, and in certain jobs, such as transporting large amounts of cash or other valuables. Fully automatic weapons have been banned since 1977. The new law extends the registration requirement to unrestricted long guns such as shotguns and rifles and adds short-barrelled handguns and those discharging 25- or 32-calibre cartridges to the list of prohibited weapons.
Gun Ownership and Crime
A national survey commissioned by the Canadian Firearms Centre in 2000 found an estimated 2.3 million firearm owners.
More than 1,000 Canadians die every year from gunshot wounds, most of them by their own hand. In 1996 the total firearm deaths amounted to 1,131, of which 815 were suicides, 45 were accidents and 156 were homicides.
The violent crime rate has been steadily declining in Canada over the last two decades, and progressively fewer crimes are being committed with firearms. In 1978, Canada recorded 661 homicides, a rate of 2.76 per 100,000. Of these, 250, or 37.8%, were committed with guns. In 1998, Canada had 555 homicides, a rate of 1.83 per 100,000. Guns were involved in 151 of the homicides, 27% of the total, the lowest proportion since statistics were first collected in 1961. Robberies using firearms accounted for 18% of all such crimes in 1998, down from 25% in 1988 and 37% in 1978.
"All guns are capable of being used in crime. All guns pose a threat to public safety."
Source: http://www.canadianembassy.org/government/guncontrol-en.asp
Caption for the top photos (the group of ladies)...
"Why do they hate us? We're Canadians!"
Answer: Because some of your countrymen have spines and are doing
a h-ll of a good job in Afghanistan, I suspect.
OK, I may have to recant this. But four shooters sure fits the bill
of Islamo-terror.
As good as two jetliners into two buildings at about a 16 minute interval.
I had to run out & just got in. Four unconfirmed dead & 16 injured, tragic. So much for strict gun laws.
bttt
Full mobilization of Montreal PD
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ie=UTF-8&q=shooting+%2B+Canada&btnG=Search+News
http://www.kget.com/news/world/story.aspx?content_id=1EB67AFB-1F26-4FF0-999F-E82745430FBE
"Two gunmen dead, search for other suspects at Montreal college"
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "MONTREAL (AP) - Chaos and confusion at a college in Montreal, where authorities say at least two gunman stormed the cafeteria and opened fire. It's unclear how many people were shot.
Authorities say one gunman was fatally shot by police and another suspect shot himself. The area is being searched for other suspects.
Witnesses and police say the gunman who shot himself was wearing a black trenchcoat -- which is what the Columbine High School gunmen were dressed in. "
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