“A small community in northern Saskatchewan is in mourning after shootings at two locations — including a school — left four people dead,” cbc.ca reports. “Several others were wounded in the violence Friday in La Loche, Sask., a Dene community nestled on the shores of Lac La Loche with a population of about 3,000.” Police arrested a suspect — reported to be a student who texted “Just killed 2 ppl. Bout to shoot ip the school”– but not immediately . . .
RCMP in Saskatchewan said they were called about “an active shooter” at 1 p.m. CST and said they had a suspect in custody 45 minutes later.
When seconds count, the police may take 45 minutes to apprehend the killer. If it had been multiple attackers, as we’ve seen in school attacks in Pakistan, the death toll can be horrendous. Make that more horrendous.
The incident, in a country with “strict” gun control, [once again] puts paid to President’s Obama’s post-Paris pronouncement that “This just doesn’t happen in other countries.” Here’s a list of previous Canadian school shootings [via thestarphoenix.com]
Ecole Polytechnique, Montreal: On Dec. 6, 1989, 25-year-old Marc Lepine shot more than two dozen people, killing 14 women before killing himself.
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Dawson College, Laval, Que: On Sept. 13, 2006, 18-year-old Anastasia De Sousa was killed and 20 others were hurt when gunman Kimveer Gill, 25, opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon. Gill was killed in a police gunfight.
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W.C. Jeffreys Collegiate Institute, Toronto: On May, 23, 2007, 15-year-old Jordan Manners is found in a hallway with single gunshot wound to the chest. He later dies in hospital. Two teens were charged with first-degree-murder and were later acquitted.
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Les Racines de vie Montessori, Gatineau, Que.: On April 5, 2013, two men die during a shooting at the school’s daycare. The shooter is identified as Robert Charron. Thirty-eight-year-old Neil Galliou is killed before Charron takes his own life. Charron told staff to take the 53 children to safety before he opened fire.
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W.R. Myers High: Taber, Alta.: On April 28, 1999, a 14-year-old Grade 9 students shoots three students, killing 17-year-old Jason Lang before he is arrested.