Montreal gunman called himself 'angel of death'

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.

Read the full article here

Broken Link? If the link to the original article is broken or has been altered you can view the article by clicking here.