19 people shot in Montreal collage

[buttercup132]

19 people were shot the other day in a Montreal collage. The kids were all are 16 +. 1 shot dead another in critical condition and shes not going to make it. 17 with bad wounds. Some random guy around 22 who sits in his house playing shooting video games went on a shooting rampage at the school..:( Its so sad what is going on these days. I'll try and find a news site with the story.

[CagneyDog]

I heard about this. :( It's so sad.

[Jadapit]

I saw that on the news. It reminded me of the shootings at Columbine. So sad and senseless. :(

[Catty1]

Another person who was 'always reserved in school, etc.

Heard something interesting this morning: This person said that when we call someone a madman, or that they are crazy or a lunatic - and when we turn our attention to more security, to more safety - we are missing the boat. We turn that person into a "thing", 'other' than us, and wash our hands and move on.

This woman who was being interviewed, who lived through Columbine and now works to help reach out to children says we have to reach children BEFORE they get to this state. We have to watch and question and interfere - better to be wrong and silly, than right and do nothing, and have more of these massacres happen.

This young man's parents are horrified and in shock...they had no idea at all...and he is 25.

It takes a village to raise a child.

************************************************** *******


http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2006/09/14/gill-kimveer-cp-1852476.jpg

The gunman who went on a shooting rampage at a Montreal college Wednesday apparently left an online journal with chilling comments and photos of himself brandishing a rifle.

Kimveer Gill was the author of an online diary posted at the website vampirefreaks.com.

Gill, 25, was dressed entirely in black, wearing a trench coat and armed with a rifle when he arrived at Dawson College on Wednesday afternoon.

One woman was shot to death and 19 people were injured, at least six of them critically, in the rampage that followed. Montreal police said the victims ranged in age from 17 to 48.

On Thursday, police identified the dead student as Anastasia DeSousa, an 18-year-old from the greater Montreal area, who was a business student at Dawson College.

DeSousa was shot dead inside the building, said Montreal's ambulance agency.

"The environment was still very hostile when we got there," said André Champagne, a spokesman for Urgences Santé.

Paramedics realized very quickly that there was nothing they could do to resuscitate or revive the young woman. "Her wounds were fatal, and the death was declared on site," he said.

DeSousa's body was removed from the college early Thursday morning.

Chaos on campus

Investigators with the Montreal police major crimes unit and the Sûreté du Québec, the provincial police force, spent the night picking through the crime scene to collect forensic evidence.

Eyewitnesses say they saw a tall, Goth-looking man in a long black coat drive up near the college on Maisonneuve Street in a black Pontiac Sunfire at around 12:30 p.m. He got out of his car, opened the trunk and removed a rifle.

The gunman then walked toward the college's southwest entrance. Witnesses said they saw him shoot at least one person outside before entering the building. Police said the first gunshots were heard at 12:41 p.m.

It was lunchtime and the school was packed when the gunman entered through the main doors and headed to the cafeteria. "He was shooting randomly," said Dawson student Michel Boyer, who witnessed the gunfire. "I'm not sure who he was shooting at, but the [cafeteria] atrium was completely cleared."

Chaos ensued, said Boyer. "The adrenaline was rushing. It was like something from a movie. It was completely unbelievable and incredible."

The first police officers were on the scene within three minutes, said Montreal police chief Yvan Delorme. By coincidence, they had been called to the college on an unrelated drug investigation.

Officers with guns drawn rushed into the building, at which point witnesses reported hearing more shots fired. Montreal police confirmed that the officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect, and that the suspect was hit by at least one officer.

Police said the gunman died during the shootout. Preliminary autopsy results released Thursday showed Gill died of a self-inflicted wound, Quebec police said.

Panic in the streets

Pandemonium broke out inside the college and on surrounding streets minutes after the shooting began.

Hundreds of students poured out of the school, running with their heads covered. Many were crying and yelling into their cellphones, and several people fleeing the scene had blood stains on their clothes.

People collapsed on nearby streets as they tried to flee, and some of those lying on the ground were trampled by others as they ran away.

While hundreds of students sought refuge at nearby Concordia University, others hid for as long as three hours, until police with dogs escorted them out to safety.

Eyewitness Andrew Galle said he emerged from Dawson College's campus radio station to a gruesome scene. "There was glass everywhere, and a big pile of blood, with tracks out the front door and outside the school itself," he said.

Police officers were seen dragging a bloody body out of the school about 45 minutes after the first gunshots were heard. They placed the body next to a patrol car and threw a sheet over it. Police confirmed Wednesday night that the body was that of the gunman.

Officers then searched the school, floor by floor and room by room, amid initial fears that there might have have been a second gunman. The school was declared empty about three hours after the first shots were heard.

The shooting paralyzed Montreal's downtown quarter for most of the afternoon. Nearby office buildings and schools were evacuated, surrounding streets were shut down and Montreal's green subway line, which serves Dawson College, was closed for several hours. Cellphone networks were jammed because of the number of people trying to dial out from the area.

Gunman said he was 'ready for action'

Police searched Gill's car late Wednesday night, and visited his parents' home in Fabreville, a borough in Laval, north of Montreal.

Neighbours told CBC Radio that Gill lived with his parents in the house.

In his profile on vampirefreaks.com, a website devoted to Goth culture, Gill called himself "Trench," and wrote: "You will come to know him as the Angel of Death."

"Work sucks ... School sucks ... Life sucks ... What else can I say?" he wrote. "Metal and Goth kick ass. Life is like a video game, you gotta die sometime."

A photo gallery accompanying the profile includes pictures of Gill brandishing a Beretta CX4 Storm semi-automatic rifle. In the last seven photos, he is wearing a black trench coat and holding the rifle. The caption below the last photo reads, "Ready for Action."

School remains closed

Dawson College is closed until at least Monday, director general Robert Filion said, but added that repairs and the investigation could push that date back.

"Our first priority is to set up psychological support when we open," said Filion. "It's not business as usual ... What happened yesterday deserves to be handled with great care and Dawson will do everything it can.

"Something has been broken and we have to work together to build it anew."

About 10,000 students attend the junior college, which offers a two-year pre-university program or a three-year technical program.

Blood reserves down

The province's blood collection agency, Héma Québec, is asking for blood donors in the wake of Wednesday's shootings. The agency wants people with type O-negative blood to donate Thursday, to replenish the province's reserves.

Officials with Héma Québec said they used large quantities of the universal blood type on Wednesday to treat the victims.

Clinics are being held Thursday in Montreal's Place Ville Marie and Place Versailles, as well as at Place Laurier in Quebec City.

[IRescue452]

I'm so sorry to hear this. Lets not jump at video games though. I play them. The more likely thing that needs to be honed in on is the mental state of a person who sits in isolation all day rather than acting like a normal, social 22- year-old.

[Argranade]

Ya I saw it on T.v horrible. :(

[rg_girlca]

Yup, it was quite the chaos in Downtown Montreal yesterday. Such a sad, sad day. We were on our way home when we were surrounded by police cars and ambulances racing by us and 2 helicopters were hoovering above. We all had to be re-routed in our cars to try and find another route to get home. What normally takes us 15 minutes to get home from the Downtown area, took us about 45 minutes. They had such a large perimeter blocked off.
I found out later on that a friend of my sons girlfriend was one of the victims that had been shot in the leg. Thank goodness she is doing okay.

The girl that had died, was shot in the head. I really felt sorry for the family as they were trying to get in contact with their daughter and couldn't find out where she was as the police were not giving out the girls name. Also, they didn't remove her body from the College until this morning.

Today, while driving by the College, we saw kids placing flowers by the fence and two girls were placing a sign that read; "To all the victims and their families, you are in our hearts.

[Catty1]

I agree - IRescue - we have to reach the kids.

Kimveer was not playing video games - the vampire site is a blog, a goth blog.

Another young girl who was a member and posted on a goth blog stands accused of murdering her mom, dad, and younger brother.

Also charged is her boyfriend, about 22. They stole a truck and were found in Saskatchewan, just next door to Alberta where the murders took place.

She is 12 years old. But apparently looks older.

On the positive side - two shootings have been prevented by students who have read blogs and seen signs of trouble, and reported it to the authorities.

This is so sad for everyone concerned...Kimveer was apparently a very strait-laced teen. Very alone. And found Goth.

God rest the souls of the dead here.

[neko1]

I go to Goth clubs, I listen to Goth music and I have Goth friends....

I'm also a college graduate- I graduated with honors (also a member of the psych honor society) and I now work directly for a Vice President.

I really hate it when Goth is to blame...not all of us are going to go on murderous rampages.

[Maresche]

It is so sad when things like this happen. Especially when it is preventable if someone just paid some attention to these kids in a positive way.

Goth isn't to blame, video games aren't to blame. Are they contributing factors? Most likely but something already had to be wrong for them to be factors.

I really like what Catty1 had to say. The only way to prevent these tragedies is to pay attention and I mean really pay attention to those we share our lives with, friends, family, children, classmates. It is better to be wrong and look silly than to miss it and have this happen.

[Argranade]

I would say sometimes its the parents to blame.

[Cataholic]

It is horrible. Very sad for the victims.

I do not understand how a 'parent', especially one whose child lives at home (as I think the reports said) cannot recognize the signs that I think must be present in someone like this. :(

[buttercup132]

I dont think it was because of video games or the fact that he was "goth" he probly had some mental issues and the video games triggered him to do such things. Vampire freaks is in a way a good site , people post on there that they are going to do these things and then someone sees it and they get help.

[sasha the cat]

BUTTERCUP132

I just read your note regarding the tragedy in my hometown, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

In Cat of the Day today I wrote on this sad event, as follows:

Dear PTers:

Please say a prayer for the late Anastasia De Sousa, only 18, who was shot to death on September 13th in Montreal, Canada at Dawson College. A hard day for all of who live in Montreal and for Canadians everywhere. We cannot imagine her family's grief at so tragic a loss.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid215/p3dde6f2e84104692267e94a5d2ed5c4e/ecf3a1b2.jpg

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060913/montreal_shooting_060914/20060914?hub=TopStories

http://www.legacy.com/can-montreal/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=19212332

Link http://tinyurl.com/jfzjw is our message of condolence.

At our home we are still in shock and we mourn the loss of this beautiful young woman. Canadian flags are at half mast.

Thank you from my KatMa & Paw-Paw

about our city at: http://experts.about.com/e/m/mo/Montreal.htm