This is a special post to this normally fics/stories-only journal.
I didn't think that I would post an entry so fast... and that it would not be a fic, but about something so horrific.
What happened yesterday at Dawson College was just sick. I can't believe something like this would happen in Montreal again.
I was at my third/last class of the day yesterday, when a guy rushed in at 2h40 (five min before class start), he plopped down at a seat, said that there was so much trouble getting to Loyola Campus before gasping out, freaking: "There was a shooting at Dawson!" before going on about how he couldn't believe something like this could happen in Mtl now. A few minutes later, a girl on her laptop said that a gunman comitted suicide and that the number of victims was still exactly unknown.
When class started, almost half of the class was noticeably absent. The guy told the teacher why many would probably not show up, and the rest of the class went in a bit of shock.
I kept thinking "do i know someone who attends Dawson now?" and couldn't think of anyone who was currently a student there but for some reason I kept going over and over names of my friends over and over again, wondering why I was kinda anxious... before it dawned on me that one of my closest friends Aleks
olka05 studied there!
I managed to call her on my way home and was relieved to find out that she wasn't directly on campus at the time of the shooting, and only nearby (Place Alexis Nihon) and that she was safe and without a scratch. I mean, I can't even imagine what it'd be like just to be there, just hearing the gunshoots. I think that alone can be enough to emotionally scar someone for a good while. And I can't help to think about how the first year students must have felt.
I've never been to Dawson (I studied at Vanier College before attending Concordia University) though I've had a few friends study there, but Vanier and Danwon was often closely linked and I kept help but feel horrified at what has happened. I'm glad that the downtown Concordia (Sir George Willams) campus was somewhat quick and able to support some of the students and their parents who came running at the news. Had I had any classes downtown, I think I would have been anxious for quite a while being on campus. Just watching the cellvids that some students managed to take makes me nervous.
My dad told me yesterday evening that he had freaked out when hearing the news before remembering I was at Concordia... and then he freaked out again, worried that I possibly had classes downtown and was nearby the chaos so when I called him back before my third class for an unrelated matter (financial aid), he was relieved.
My sympathies to the Dawson peoples, the victims and their families and friends, and especially to those who must cope with the death of the 18 years old female student, who passed away at the hospital during the night. I also hope that those in critical condition will pull through.
For more info, pics and vids, in headlines (or on homepage and related news):
-CTV (
http://www.ctv.ca/gallery/html/montreal_shooting_20060912/photo_0.html)
-CBC (
http://www.cbc.ca/photogallery/_canada.html?dataPath=/photogallery/canada/gallery_62/xml/gallery_62.xml)
-MSN (
http://news.sympatico.msn.ca/SpecialFeatures/Articles/DawsonCollege)
-Yahoo (
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/13092006/2/national-dawson-college-gunfire-revives-horrific-memories-montreal-massacre.html)
-Gazette (
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=1dc31f5a-940d-4147-b5c7-d693b38f4f35&k=66350)
-Le Devoir (
http://www.ledevoir.com/2006/09/14/118116.html)
-La Presse (
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/)
-24 heures (
http://montreal.24heures.ca/)
crossposted at
forcemysmile and
offthesidelines