February 11, 2009 5:59 PM
- Text
Canada Questions Laws After Rampage
(CBS/AP)
In the wake of the shooting rampage Wednesday at Dawson College in Montreal, which left a woman student dead and others injured, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said it was too early to begin questioning how tougher gun control laws might have averted Wednesday's rampage, but that current laws clearly did not work.
But he appeared hesitant about whether to impose stricter control over Web sites like vampirefreaks.com, where Kimveer Gill, 25. the man who went on a deadly shooting rampage Wednesday, had posted pictures of himself on the Internet with a rifle and said he was feeling "crazy" and "postal" and was drinking whiskey hours before the attack.
Witnesses said Gill started shooting outside the college, then entered the second-floor cafeteria and opened fire without uttering a word. Anastasia DeSousa, 18, of Montreal was killed.
Eight people are still at the Montreal General Hospital from the attack, including four in critical condition.
Meanwhile, about 30 people attended a prayer vigil at the Salvation Army Citadel in Montreal to remember DeSousa and pray for the other victims. The service was organized by Calvary Chapel Montreal Regeneration, a non-denominational, evangelical congregation, which caters mainly to young adults.
"Stacy" DeSousa "was incredible, loud, hilarious, gorgeous," Gilda Ciccone, a student at Champlain College in St. Lambert, told the Montreal Gazette.
Montrealers continued to stop by a makeshift memorial to pay their respects to DeSousa outside the college, and Mayor Gerald Tremblay asked that flags be flown at half-mast. There is also a condolence book at city hall.
Canadian laws prohibit the possession of unregistered handguns, and the rules for ownership of registered guns are stringent. Many politicians and police contend illegal guns flowing across the U.S.-Canada border are behind a recent spike in firearm violence.
A 23-year-old man and a 12-year-old girl accused in a triple murder in Medicine Hat, Alberta, earlier this year also had profiles on vampirefreaks.com. Jeremy Steinke, 23, and his 12-year-old girlfriend are accused of killing a couple and their eight-year-old son.
"We as a society have trouble squaring our outrage at some of the images that we see, some of the messages that are communicated to young people in particular, with our belief in freedom and our desire to avoid censorship," Harper, the father of young children, said Thursday.
Students at Dawson College say the school didn't have an emergency plan for an incident like Wednesday's rampage and its administration has been unresponsive in helping students cope with the tragedy.
"We could not reach anyone from administration until late (Wednesday) night," Arielle Reid, a student union representative, told the Gazette.
No counseling has been provided to students, said student union president Melanie Hotchkiss.
"Students need all the support services right now," Hotchkiss said. "Hopefully, we can reach out to students before they come back to school on Monday."
Police in Montreal now say Gill died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Initial reports had said that the 25-year-old had committed suicide, putting his own gun to his head, but police at first said they had shot and killed him. It turns out police only wounded him in the arm.
Before he died, Gill had already wounded 20 other people — one of whom, an 18-year-old woman, later died. Four shooting victims remained in critical condition Thursday, including three in extremely critical condition and one in a deep coma.
But he appeared hesitant about whether to impose stricter control over Web sites like vampirefreaks.com, where Kimveer Gill, 25. the man who went on a deadly shooting rampage Wednesday, had posted pictures of himself on the Internet with a rifle and said he was feeling "crazy" and "postal" and was drinking whiskey hours before the attack.
Witnesses said Gill started shooting outside the college, then entered the second-floor cafeteria and opened fire without uttering a word. Anastasia DeSousa, 18, of Montreal was killed.
Eight people are still at the Montreal General Hospital from the attack, including four in critical condition.
Meanwhile, about 30 people attended a prayer vigil at the Salvation Army Citadel in Montreal to remember DeSousa and pray for the other victims. The service was organized by Calvary Chapel Montreal Regeneration, a non-denominational, evangelical congregation, which caters mainly to young adults.
"Stacy" DeSousa "was incredible, loud, hilarious, gorgeous," Gilda Ciccone, a student at Champlain College in St. Lambert, told the Montreal Gazette.
Montrealers continued to stop by a makeshift memorial to pay their respects to DeSousa outside the college, and Mayor Gerald Tremblay asked that flags be flown at half-mast. There is also a condolence book at city hall.
Canadian laws prohibit the possession of unregistered handguns, and the rules for ownership of registered guns are stringent. Many politicians and police contend illegal guns flowing across the U.S.-Canada border are behind a recent spike in firearm violence.
A 23-year-old man and a 12-year-old girl accused in a triple murder in Medicine Hat, Alberta, earlier this year also had profiles on vampirefreaks.com. Jeremy Steinke, 23, and his 12-year-old girlfriend are accused of killing a couple and their eight-year-old son.
"We as a society have trouble squaring our outrage at some of the images that we see, some of the messages that are communicated to young people in particular, with our belief in freedom and our desire to avoid censorship," Harper, the father of young children, said Thursday.
Students at Dawson College say the school didn't have an emergency plan for an incident like Wednesday's rampage and its administration has been unresponsive in helping students cope with the tragedy.
"We could not reach anyone from administration until late (Wednesday) night," Arielle Reid, a student union representative, told the Gazette.
No counseling has been provided to students, said student union president Melanie Hotchkiss.
"Students need all the support services right now," Hotchkiss said. "Hopefully, we can reach out to students before they come back to school on Monday."
Police in Montreal now say Gill died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Initial reports had said that the 25-year-old had committed suicide, putting his own gun to his head, but police at first said they had shot and killed him. It turns out police only wounded him in the arm.
Before he died, Gill had already wounded 20 other people — one of whom, an 18-year-old woman, later died. Four shooting victims remained in critical condition Thursday, including three in extremely critical condition and one in a deep coma.
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