Classes cancelled at Collège Montmorency after nearby shooting

Classes were cancelled at the Collège Montmorency on Monday to allow the community to take a step back after Friday’s shooting in a nearby park, which forced a lockdown at the school.

“I can just go to school and I have no fear because I wasn’t there,” says student Aurore Senjiza. “For me, it’s less scary to go back in school, for other people it might not be.” 

The cancellation also applied to the Centre de formation continue and the Complexe de sécurité incendie.

On its website the school said they’d be offering support to students and staff members, encouraging everyone to take part. Intervention workers will be available in the school atrium for individuals to meet with, no appointment necessary.

Information will also be shared and stakeholders available to answer questions. The space will be set up to encourage decompression.

School officials also reminded students that they can contact Jeunesse, j’écoute at 1-800-668-6868 and Prévention du suicide at 1-866-APPELLE, to speak with someone anonymously.

Literature teacher, Simon Leduc, said mixed reactions came with cancelling classes.

“Some wanted to continue today, some others were relieved that there wasn’t a class today,” he said. “But tomorrow it’s starting again, so we need to be ready for that.”

#WATCH: “I was pretty shocked and scared,” says Collège Montmorency student, Aurore Senjiza, after a nearby shooting sent her school into lockdown Friday night. The school cancelled classes on Monday to give them a chance to “step back”.

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Friday’s shooting, which happened in a park near the college, sent about 500 students and staff members into lockdown for at least six hours and left four people with non-life-threatening injuries. Three victims were shot, while the fourth was treated for a possible glass-related wound.

“It’s really sad,” said Leduc. “It shows that there’s lots of violence in our society and schools are not are not apart from the society.”

The victims sought refuge inside the college, creating some initial confusion as to where the shooting took place.

“I was pretty shocked and scared because I knew a lot of students who had classes that day,” said Senjiza. “I just wanted to make sure they were good.”

Student Mathis Gendron was nearby the shooting location. (Credit: CityNews / Alyssia Rubertucci)

Student Mathis Gendron wasn’t in the building at the time, but heard the scene unfold from his apartment.

“I heard four shots,” he said, on Monday.

RELATED: Four injured in shooting outside College Montmorency 

The police said one victim between the age of 19 and 20 is suspected to have had involvement with a local street gang known as the Flamehead Boys, which has been known to local authorities for many years.

“It is not students from the CEGEP,” said Andre Durocher, former inspector with the Montreal police. “I was hearing some people say, ‘they’re shooting themselves among themselves, those three gang members.’ But a lost round could hit anyone. That’s why it has to be taken very seriously.”

Gendron says he was in the park just 10 minutes before the shooting. “The first thing I think is, maybe it could’ve been me,” he says.

Police are still searching for suspects in the case.

“I’m scared that can happen somewhere else,” says Senjiza.

The shooting came the same day as a CEGEP in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, south of Montreal, was put into lockdown for several hours after a 19-year-old man wearing a bulletproof vest was spotted on campus.

With files from The Canadian Press