Montreal Struggles To Recover Its Joie De Vivre After Shooting
Posted September 14, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
But on Thursday, the entire ville seemed to be under a subdued cloud, more than 24 hours after a madman opened fire in the city’s Dawson College, killing an 18-year-old student and wounding 19 others. He later took his own life.
All day long, Montrealers have returned to the brutal crime scene to leave candles, flowers and cards of condolence. Students who earlier fled the campus have come back too, even though the school is closed.
It’s as though they feel they could make sense of the insanity if only they can get closer to where it all happened. But even then, it makes no sense.
“I wasn’t sure it was a gunshot at first,” admits one young man. “I felt something in the back of my leg. Then two seconds later I heard another gunshot. Everybody started panicking. I returned back to see what happened to my friend ’cause he got shot from his neck, so I went to see how he was doing. He was covered by blood.”
“You don’t believe it at first, you know,” adds Matthew Wall, who wound up relieved when his friend emerged from the carnage unscathed. “It’s not something that happens regularly so you don’t know what to think. It’s not like a fire drill or something. This is serious. This is the real deal.”
Even those who weren’t directly involved are aghast at what happened in their city for the third time in the last few decades.
“I thought the world has gone crazy again,” declares Dr. Levin Moses, as he contemplates the events. “You wonder when it will ever end. It just keeps going and going from one to another.”
“It’s pretty shocking,” agrees grad student Alex Hodge. “So it was a surprise today to hear about anything like that anywhere, and then when it hits close to home.”
The shooting spree left many wondering about their own security. “I’m scared myself,” concludes businessman Amadr Zakry. “I don’t know. Maybe meet some guy like him, you know? Who knows?”
Many are wondering if things will ever seem normal again. Even when school reopens on Monday, it will still be far from what most expect. The students will simply be returning to collect some personal items, then go straight back home.
