2 Die, 3 Wounded as Professor Opens Fire in Montreal
A professor armed with a pistol opened fire Monday, killing at least two people and wounding three at a university before surrendering, police and witnesses said.
Eyewitnesses said they saw Valery Fabrikant, a professor in the mechanical engineering department at Concordia University, with a gun in his hand in a university building around 3 p.m. and then heard gunshots on the ninth floor.
Students and colleagues said he had been upset with the university administration, which he blamed for his tenure problems. They said Fabrikant emigrated from the Soviet Union a few decades ago.
“He was in a very, very scary mood,” witness Rafic Chehouri said. “He was very calm in his walking. . . . I thought he would shoot everyone in front of him, and I was in front of him.”
The attack recalled a December, 1989, massacre when gunman Marc Lepine shot and killed 14 women at the University of Montreal.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
