If you’ve arrived here via Instapundit, looking for info about the school shootings in Montreal, welcome, and scroll down to here for the live-blogging coverage from this afternoon.
But I must say I’m a little uncomfortable with the trauma-induced traffic spike thing. I know it’s a fact of life on the blogosphere, but I sort of feel funny about the idea of profiting from such a terrible tragedy. Luckily I don’t make any money from this blog, so I guess I can’t feel too guilty.
Anyway, here’s a roundup of the facts as they currently stand (as of 9:45pm):
Who? One shooter, it seems. There was strong, widespread speculation of a second shooter, but police at first refused to confirm this and now seem to be denying it outright. Reports of three or even four shooters seem to have been false. We know there’s an ongoing investigation.
The shooter’s identity is not yet known, but he has been described by many of the witnesses fairly consistently: white male, early 20s, long black hair, black trench coat, shaved head and mohawk, lots of piercings, possibly wearing black army fatigues.
There appear to have been approximately 20 people wounded, one of which has now been confirmed dead – a woman in her early 20s. Others are in critical condition at various hospitals and are being operated on.
What? The shooter seems to have opened fire first outside Dawson’s main building, wounding several students. He then headed inside to the atrium and opened fire again.
There were conflicting reports of how the shooter died, but it now appears to be confirmed that he was shot and killed by police officers on the scene.
Where? Dawson College is located in the western part of downtown Montreal, across from Alexis-Nihon plaza and connected to Atwater metro station. It’s also across from where the old Forum used to be, for those of you who are familiar with pre-90s Montreal tourist landmarks.
When? The whole thing seems to have started around 12:45pm and it took nearly 2 hours for the building to be evacuated of students. The investigation is still ongoing and details are still emerging.
Why? That’s the biggie, and the one we haven’t even begun to answer yet. By all accounts, it was the work of one lone, disturbed gunman. Please see below before speculating or putting together conspiracy theories.
I’ll try to keep everyone posted as more details emerge.
Thanks for a level-headed analysis of an appalling situation. It’s nice to see someone who recognizes that every tragedy does not necessarily fit an agenda. And someone who can write decently!
Yes,
I second commenter #1. There’s a lot of unwarranted speculation going on right now. And thanks for the geographic update (my old neighborhood, as it turns out).