Dawson College faculty and staff gathered Friday to prepare for the school's reopening on Monday, and for most it will be the first time they have set foot inside the building that was the scene of a shooting rampage two days earlier.
The meeting will give the teachers and other employees a chance to talk, and find out what services and support networks the Montreal junior college has set up to help both staff and students deal with the week's tragic events.
On Wednesday afternoon, 25-year-old Kimveer Gill, a troubled loner obsessed with guns and intent on killing, arrived at Dawson armed with three guns and unleashed a torrent of bullets on students and staff.
Mr. Gill murdered 18-year-old Anastasia De Sousa and wounded more than a dozen other staff and students before dying after a gunfight with Montreal police. The incident has left thousands of students traumatized and sent shockwaves across the country.
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Of the 11 Dawson shooting victims taken to the Montreal General Hospital, three had been discharged and two more were stable and recovering from gunshot wounds as of Friday afternoon.
In a press release, the hospital said that two patients have been transferred out of the intensive care unit while four remain there. Of those four, three are in critical condition and one is critical but stable.
Directors at the Montreal General Hospital said Friday that more than 160 calls have poured into a hotline set up to help traumatized students. The callers, both people in distress and family members looking to help, are reporting symptoms of stress, anxiety, dizzy spells, numbness, difficulty concentraing and sleeping, all symptoms of acute stress.
The hospital staff said all of the above were normal reactions to an abnormal event and that in 90 per cent of cases, the symptoms will subside in the next two-three weeks.
Richard Filion, director-general of Dawson College, said the school's management team has been busy preparing for the return of staff and students. Counsellors will be on hand to talk with students when the school opens its doors again to students and their parents on Monday at 11 a.m. EDT.
Because of the police investigation and stepped-up local security, staff will not be able to go to their offices or retrieve items they left behind until Monday, Mr. Filion said. News reports said some items that were left in areas of the school that are no longer part of the investigation had been returned.
Regular classes at Dawson College will resume on Tuesday.
Nick Papatheodorakos, a teacher at Dawson, said in a televised interview Friday that the mood among the staff at the school was "sombre" and "sad." He described the Dawson community as close-knit, and urged students and staff to pull together.
"It feels like there has been a chasm in the Dawson student life," he said. "As a Dawson family, we need to come together and try to find our way. Nothing will be resolved quickly. This will take months and months."
Mr. Papatheodorakos defended the school against criticism that it had not done enough to help students, saying: "I don't think anyone can be prepared for something like this."
Melody Tousignant, an 18-year-old student, said it was “very hard” to come back to the college. “I think a lot of people aren't gonna come back on Monday,” she said.
The second-year student said the healing process will be a long one. “Nobody ever expected this, it's unbelievable,” Ms. Tousignant said.
The shootings have reignited debate about Canada's long-gun registry, with Quebec Premier Jean Charest pledging to fight Prime Minister Stephen Harper's plans to scrap the controversial $1-billion registry.
Conservative MPs meeting said on Friday that it is not appropriate to talk about gun control or the gun registry so soon after the shootings in Montreal, although a few noted that the guns used by Mr. Gill were legally registered.
Treasury Board President John Baird said the existing registry obviously didn't work.
Meanwhile, Montrealers continued to stop by outside the college Friday, signing posters and laying flowers at a makeshift memorial to Ms. De Sousa. Her grief-stricken family are angry that the police, hospital and school officials waited until late Wednesday night to inform them of her death, a 10-hour delay.
They have described the girl as someone who was full of life, full of joy and happiness.
Mayor Gerald Tremblay is asking Montrealers with flags to fly them at half-mast. He also is inviting people to sign a gold book at city hall between today and Sunday so they can express their condolences.
With reports from Canadian Press.
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