The shots rang out in a park across from Montmorency College in the Montreal suburb of Laval. According to police spokeswoman Geneviève Major, it was around 5:30 p.m. (11:30 p.m. French time).
Four people with gunshot wounds sought refuge at the college and were later taken to hospital for treatment of minor injuries. The college, which has nearly ten thousand students and faculty, remained closed in the evening as police launched a manhunt for the shooter. The mayor, Stephane Boyer, tweeted that a police operation was ” In progress “. Quebec’s Minister of Public Security, François Bonnardel, said he was “with all my heart with the victims and families”.
A first incident in another school
Earlier, a 19-year-old man wearing a bulletproof vest was arrested at a college 40 kilometers south of Montreal and charged with uttering threats. Students and staff told local media they were ordered to barricade themselves in classrooms and turn off lights for most of the day as a police operation unfolded outside. ‘outside.
“At the beginning, we were very scared”, student Alejandra Montequin told Canadian television channel Global News. Minister François Bonnardel also said in a message on Twitter that the students of this establishment had “experienced a difficult situation today”. “I am relieved at the turn of events”he added.