Gunman Kills 14 Women at Canada College

A young gunman invaded the University of Montreal engineering school on Wednesday and singled out females for his targets, killing 14 women and wounding 12 people before committing suicide, police said.

Montreal Police Director Claude St. Laurent said the killer, clad in a hunting outfit, rushed into a packed classroom on the second floor and yelled in French, “You’re all a bunch of . . . feminists!” Then he began his murderous rampage.

Witnesses said the gunman, who appeared to be in his early 20s, divided the students in the classroom by sex and sent the men into the corridor before opening fire on the women.

Six women were shot to death in that room, and a seventh in another room. Then the man, carrying what looked like a .22-caliber rifle, left in search of more victims, St. Laurent said.

The gunman prowled the halls, killing three women in the cafeteria and four more in the the third floor corridor. He then shot himself.

St. Laurent at one point told reporters that police were looking for two accomplices but later said he was mistaken and that the man had acted alone.

“I saw the bodies of the people who were slain--they were all women,” said Louis Courville, director of the engineering school, his voice shaking.

One student said a bullet passed through his leg, and he brought his hands up in a pleading gesture. The gunman left him alone.

“He was clearly gunning for the women,” the student said.

Scores of terrified students ran from the building when the first shots rang out.

“All I know is that a crazy guy came in here and began shooting at anything that moved,” said Dominique Berube, 22, one of those who fled in terror.

She said some people threw themselves on the floor while others stood paralyzed.

The injured, several in critical condition, were taken to four hospitals.

The identity of the gunman was not released. The rationale for his attack was not known.

Frenzied parents rushed to the university and were told to gather at a central location.

“I saw death close up and I shook,” said student Vanthona Ouy, 22. “I dropped everything and ran,” he said.

Witnesses told police the gunman entered the first classroom at about 5:20 p.m. Students said he emerged from that classroom, fired three or four shots at a group of people and ran up a flight of stairs.

Student Francois Bordeleau said he had to drag people by the collar to keep them from going in the man’s direction.

He said he heard 20 to 30 shots and that the man appeared to be aiming mainly at women.

Bordeleau and several other witnesses said they heard the gunman say: “I want the women.”

Student Eric Chavarie was in the classroom when the gunman entered. The gunman “told us to stop everything. And then when we looked at him, we thought it was a joke, but he fired a shot in the air and separated us into two groups, the guys in one corner and the girls in (another) corner,” Chavarie said.

“When that was done he asked the guys to leave, he left the girls in there. We got outside in the hallway and for a couple of minutes he stayed in there and . . . when he got out he leveled his gun at a group of people who were there and he shot three or four shots.

“I saw some people fall.”

Pierre Robert, 25, said he thought at first the whole thing was a joke.

“It was our last hour of the term. We practically laughed. When he came in (the classroom) he was really calm, but after the first shot his voice became nervous.”

The popular engineering class had an enrollment of 60 students, 25 of them women. The professor, Yvon Bouchard, was among the men the gunman herded out of the classroom.

Lucien Justin, who was in the computer room, said the assailant first aimed at the wall there and then ran out.

“Somebody locked the door, but he shot off the lock,” he said. “I was terribly afraid, I ran like hell.”