I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the fatal shooting that happened in Dawson College in Montreal a couple of days ago. (For anyone with no concept of cities and geography, that’s a city in Quebec, Canada.)
I’ve lived in downtown Montreal for five years, and went to Dawson for two of them…and they were probably the best school years I’ve ever had. I learned from some fantastic teachers, studied subjects I loved, and met my best-friend-and-archnemesis whom I cherish.
I was (and still am) in Doha, Qatar when my mom told me the news–which she got from my older sister who is still studying in Montreal. I was shocked and upset to say the least. I never thought something like this could ever happen to anything that was such a postive part of my life…and that could have easily involved people that I know. Thankfully, none of my friends were there save for one, but she wasn’t at the specific scene of the shooting.
My condolences go out to the parents and family of the single fatality, an 18-year-old who was starting her first year in Dawson. Really, a *fantastic* beginning to a new college experience…not to mention the four or five critically wounded in the Montreal General Hospital…
The shooter, 25-year-old Kimveer Gill, is dead. He shot himself in the head after the cops put a bullet in his arm to get him to stop his rampage. I guess it’s good riddance really, but if only he didn’t take anyone with him…but he did.
There should be effective measures taken to ensure this never happens again, though really the chances of this incident repeating itself are, in my opinion, quite low. Montreal has always been fairly peaceful…and I always loved the fact that Dawson was open to everything (the next door shopping center, the street outside and the metro station) and that people were trusted to come and go as they choose. Maybe now I realize that it wasn’t cool…maybe it was just careless and stupid.
I don’t know what to say anymore…I guess I just wanted to put this out there in my own words, especially because I was a proud Dawsonite myself, and it shocked the hell out of me to realize that something as horrendous as this had happened.
PS: I know this isn’t the first school, and hardly the last, to get shot up. And I know that there are many other cases where the fatalities, injuries and overall damage was much worse. I don’t give Dawson a higher shock factor than any other similar case…but this hit very close to home.
R.I.P – Anastasia De Sousa
Prayers to all Dawsonites.
