Students from Lionel-Groulx College are worried after having to evacuate their CEGEP in an emergency because of a possible active shooter.
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“I was going up the stairs of the college when there was a message over the intercom: confine yourself, this is not a test. Confine yourself or exit through the nearest emergency exit, ”says Noémie Savard.
“We all panicked. In the heat of the moment, we went out. A few minutes later, they told us through the CEGEP application that he was a potential active shooter, ”says the 23-year-old young woman.
The CEGEP located in Sainte-Thérèse launched a code white Friday around 2:00 p.m., due to a possible active shooter. Some were able to evacuate the CEGEP grounds, while others had to be confined to their premises.
“I was on a break in the school cafeteria and we just heard the message “code white, barricade confinement”. We entered the first room, says Chaïma Prévost, student in business management
“We are crammed into an office with 2 staff members. We are about 40 students,” says the business management student.
Thérèse-de-Blainville police said on Twitter that no one had been injured at this time.
“This is a preventive measure, a suspicious individual has been seen outside the college,” reads a message sent to all students.
Jérémie Faucher was in one of the modular classes located outside the main building when the Cégep issued the evacuation notice.
“We saw police tanks that had been there for 10 minutes. We saw people running by. … Finally, we look out the window and we see hundreds of students who are already outside. The rest of us have not heard the white code. It’s a guy who came to see us in the classroom and told us: get out! “says the student in natural sciences.
Worry
This large-scale police operation caused concern among the students present.
“I was really in a state of panic and I’m still in shock. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to return [au cégep] peace of mind,” says Ms. Savard, who is studying stage production technique.
“It’s the biggest stress I’ve experienced in my life. I’m also very scared, we don’t know anything inside, only assumptions… A bomb, a weapon, we don’t know. But the atmosphere is really tense, ”drops Ms. Prévost.