Breaking News: Gunman shoots 20 at Dawson College, Montreal

[Famine]

I'll edit this as more information becomes available, but the unconfirmed summary is:

2 gunmen, both said to now be dead - eyewitnesses say 2 gunmen, ploice officials say only one, shot dead by the first attending officer
1 other dead - now confirmed by police officials
19 injured, 6 critically.

Edit: Latest from Reuters.
Edit: Latest from Sky

 

[Swift]

Good Lord...time for some serious prayer for the injured and families of the slain. I hope he didn't commit suicide, as he doesn't deserve a quick and easy end.

 

[Danny]

My thoughts are with the familys and all involved.

 

[Famine]

Good Lord...time for some serious prayer for the injured and families of the slain. I hope he didn't commit suicide, as he doesn't deserve a quick and easy end.

Reports suggest that one gunman killed himself, the other was shot by police.

 

[Swift]

Reports suggest that one gunman killed himself, the other was shot by police.

Dang...this is one time where I'd like to see them go to jail and get "punished" for a few years before put to death.

 

[ejr_1]

I've been watching this all afternoon on the TV. All my thoughts and prayers go out to the studens and families involved.

What would drive someone to do something so horrible? I agree Swift, he doesn't deserve a quick and easy end.

 

[exigeracer]

Official' reports say 6 critical, 4 serious, 2 stable. No deaths are official yet. Official and confirmed reports indicate one gunman "neutralized" by police, and the second gunman was rumored to have killed himself.

This is so scary. Holy ****. I know so many people that go to school there, many friends. I've olnly contacted 2, the cell phones are all stuffed up from the traffic. My brother goes to school down the street from there as well...

 

[Boundary Layer]

Messed up. There was a huge commontion in the rez lobby around noon about this - everyone huddled around the tv watching CBC. Several students from Monreal and French exchange students that live with me were calling friends.

I believe there's already a meeting/councilling scheduled in my dorm for anyone affected by the attack. But ya, pretty tragic event.

update: CBC just said that 2 students are in surgery for their wounds right now. There were 12 students admitted to hospital in relation to the shooting - I think the newscaster just said there are 6 in critical condition, 6 more listed as serious or stable. They're still saying 4 may have been killed at the scene.

CBC has coverage on their website, I imagine there will be several related stories to read there as things unfold.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/

 

[exigeracer]

6 critical, 2 serious, 4 stable, all at the Montreal General Hospital.

The hospital will release an official update at 4:30PM Eastern time.

Let's hope that those any of those numbers will be changed into casualties.

The 211 bus line, which everyone takes to come back West is shut down apparently, so nobody I know will be back for a good few hours. This is serious stuff happening.

edit This posted info is official from the Montreal General.

 

[Omnis]

Wow. That's terrible.

My only question is how the hell he got into school with a SNIPER RIFLE.

 

[exigeracer]

It appears as if police and Swat teams are still active and looking for someone. There will be an official Police press conference momentarily, I'll post immedieately when it's over.

EDIT - police are doing secondary sweeps looking for hiding students or staff.

Om - this building is right downtown Montreal, it is connected to a fairly large mall and directly to the Subway system. There are 10,000 students, so it's a huge establishment.

 

[exigeracer]

The police and hospital news conferences just ended.

The Montreal General admitted 12 victims, 6 of which are currently in critical condition and 2 in serious condition. Jean Talon hospital also admitted 2, and the Jewsih admitted one, the condition of these victims is unknown.

Police are only confirming one shooter, who was shot and killed by police. So far there does not appear to be any motive, and the gunner targetted nobody in particular.

He went to kill and now he is dead. Let us pray that nobody else dies because of him.

 

[Evolution.]

Wow. That's terrible.

My only question is how the hell he got into school with a SNIPER RIFLE.

A pistol? Concealable.

Sub-machinegun? Concealable

Compact rifle? Possibly Concealable.

Full Sized Sniper Rifle? No.

I mean come on. I can understand a kid getting into school with a pistol or a compact SMG, but a sniper rifle? What the hell?

 

[exigeracer]

It was some automatic-firing riffle.

I'm talking with a friend who was there, she was in the mall (where the shooter entered the building) and the gunner started shooting right nearby her. All stores locked their doors really fast, but they couldn't shut the doors to the store she was in because the gunman was standing right outside.

 

[Evolution.]

Still.

If it is a fully-automatic rifle, it's probably going to be pretty hard to conceal in a crowded area. The smallest full-auto rifle he could get his hands on is probably an M4, which isn't exactly concealable.

 

[exigeracer]

I'd imagine in a trenchcoat, which he was wearing.

 

[Evolution.]

You still can't fully conceal a fully automatic rifle in a trench coat without being noticed.

 

[Boundary Layer]

In addition to exige's comments - the shooter didn't smuggle the weapon inside and then start firing rounds. He (reportedly) walked down the street and began shooting outside the front of the school and later entered the atrium.

One girl on the CBC said the shooter did nothing to conceal the weapon. He was in loose dark clothing, but as he approached the college when she saw him he was just walking with the gun exposed in broad daylight.

 

[exigeracer]

He was clearly deranged, he tried to kill people for no reason at all. None.

Boundary, I do believe he entered the school through Alexis Nihon, the adjacent mall.

 

[exigeracer]

A 20-year-old woman has died. She died on-scene, I believe.

 

[YSSMAN]

Well of course, this is a horrible thing that has occoured, but isn't this something that is supposed to happen in my country? I thought Canada was the "good one" that goes on without gun-problems, gang violence, etc?

It is a very sad event, but I find it very strange overall. Of course as more information comes out we may learn more, but the motives seem to be quite hidden at the moment. Granted all of this reminds me of the Columbine shootings that happened in 1999 here in the US (Colorado actually), still something that rings through the halls of highschools and middleschools across the country.

This does go to show that just because thigs such as this often happen in gun-infested America doesn't mean it won't happen anywhere else, so hopefully this is the "wake-up call" not only in Canada, but the rest of the world, that things like this can happen anywhere at anytime.

 

[Famine]

They had a similar thing, also in Montreal, 10 years before Columbine... 14 killed there.

 

[YSSMAN]

Really? Had no idea...

It sounds horrible, but it seems like it happens fairly frequently here in the US.

 

[exigeracer]

Well of course, this is a horrible thing that has occoured, but isn't this something that is supposed to happen in my country? I thought Canada was the "good one" that goes on without gun-problems, gang violence, etc?

This had nothing to do with gun problems or gang violence at all. It was one crazy guy who went bonkers (I haven't seen any information on the second shooter - anything official?).

They had a similar thing, also in Montreal, 10 years before Columbine... 14 killed there.

Yes, Polytechnique in 1989. A man had it in his mind that women were trying to dominate the world, so he had a big enough grudge to assassinate as many women as he could at a trade school. There was also another incident with a teacher flipping out on other staff with a gun, again in Montreal, at Concordia University (another school where I know people at, right nearby Dawson actually).

More and more of my friends are turning up, thank God alive and safe, maybe shook up, but everyone I know got through it. It'll be a tough couple of days for everyone here...

 

[Iceman]

You still can't fully conceal a fully automatic rifle in a trench coat without being noticed.

I suppose it would be possible to stick the barrel down the inside of your pant leg and cover the butt with a loose shirt. Then cover that with a trench coat and I bet it could be done. Although, you'd be walking quite strangely...

 

[Evolution.]

Let me reiterate...

It's very difficult to hide a full sized automatic rifle. Even under a trench coat.

Although it has been confirmed that he wasn't concealing it apparently. But then how did he get it to the said school/mall without it being noticed?

 

[exigeracer]

He parked his car right infront of the place. Police also say he had three weapons with him, one of which being semi-automatic. They identified the man as a 25 year-old from Quebec, but aren't releasing any more information on top of that. They are also in the midst of looking for more clues as to a motive in his appartment and car, which was left on-scene.

So far, only the one casualty other than the shooter, which is very good considering early rumors. I certainly hope that the remaining people in hospital recover quick and painless.

I just keep thinking how I could've been in that school, or how it could've just as liekly happened at my school. I am glad to see that the police were on-scene in 3 minutes and the whole thing was over in less than 10.

 

[YSSMAN]

It's very difficult to hide a full sized automatic rifle. Even under a trench coat.

I completely agree. The first time I saw an M4 I was quite surprised by the size of the riffle. Not that I was expecting it to be small, but it was larger than I had expected overall.

Odd, as there was an advertisement in last Sunday's paper for a brand-new M4 for a little less than $1100 USD...

 

[OZZYGT]

Quick question: Can those rifles be taken apart? They probably did that, they carried the parts and then they put them all together; you know like the military guys.




Ciao!

 

[kennythebomb]

This is horrible. Even more horrible is that it can happen anytime, because lets face it: installing 'fool-proof' security devices in every school and public place is an extremely big hassle in terms of money and time wasted. There's really nothing you can do to prevent this.

Thank God only one woman died.... incredibly unlucky as she is.