Hey all, this is a firsthand account by a Christian girl, Andrea, who
was at Dawson College at the time of the shooting......she and her
sister Sharon were on staff for a couple of years at Frontier Lodge (a
Christian camp here in Quebec)......
Sent:Thursday, September 14,
200612:50 AM
Subject: Today at Dawson
Hello dear family and friends,
Wow, it's so good to have the privilege of
sitting down and writing this to all of you from the peaceful
environment of home after today! I can't thank you enough for
your prayers!! Sharon and I are still shaken up but so thankful to be home with our
family and I just want to share with you how we saw God's hand all the
way through the trial and let you know how meaningful your prayers and
support have been today.
Today I was walking down a Dawson
hallway on the second floor, 5 minutes after the shooting began
(completely oblivious, not having heard anything yet) when someone
urged me to get inside an office nearby because there was a gunman on
the loose! I had been heading to the room next door to meet
a Christian, visually impaired student named Natalie who
I was going to tutor in Italian but was whisked inside next door
without realizing what was really going on. Until I saw two
wounded and bleeding students, boyfriend and girlfriend and both 19
years old, with several other panicked students huddled
around them, trying to help and figure out what to do next,
many crying. Joel had been grazed across the chest and
right arm and shot in his left one, and his girlfriend Jessica
was in the worst condition, having been shot in the chest and
beginning to black out. She was slumped down in a chair, lips and
skin as white as a ghost, with a very faint pulse, and her skin was
cold and clammy. She was losing it fast and we didn't have a
first aid kit but were afraid to go outside the room because gunshots
were going off just outside the same hallway and we heard scuffling and
yelling outside.
I can't really describe what went
through my mind in the next few minutes but I realized that this could
be the last few moments for any of us in the school and I guess just
tried to think how I could best use those minutes if they were
to be the last of life as I had known it. One huge mercy was
that we were locked in an office, not a class room, so we had phone
access (no one's cell phones were working because there was
poor reception on that floor, plus the systems were overloaded from
everyone trying to call 911 or home at once) and I was able
to reach my mom, tell her I loved her and the family, and ask
her pray and get others to pray as well. I was then able to
call Marly who was planning on meeting me at Alexis Nihon in
a little over an hour and tell her not to come down that day!
Meanwhile, I was so concerned for Sharon
because I knew she was usually in school and probably on break at this
time of the day on Wednesday and that she likes to study in the Atrium
right where the shooting was going on outside! No one from home
had heard from her yet and she doesn't have a cell phone so all I could
do was ask God to keep her safe and get her out.
Someone knocked on the door and people
panicked, thinking it might be the shooter, but they said they had
a first aid kit and to let them in. Most people didn't want to
open the door but we decided we had to take a chance and, thankfully,
they really were two very level-headed guys with a first aid kit and
the three of us worked together to stop the bleeding, help people in
shock, keep Jessica hydrated and warm, and I was praying so hard that
God would keep her with us, help us, and help them get the gunman down
because shots were still going off in clusters out in the hallway.
Another huge mercy was the mini-fridge in the
office with water and juice inside, which we gave to Jessica. We
were also able to break ice blocks off of the freezer wall which helped
to slow the bleeding more. I was strongly aware of God's presence
and His being our refuge but Jess was fading and it was scary!
Her boyfriend was, naturally, freaking out and said, "Never take life
for granted 'cause someday a guy's gonna just walk up to you, pull out
a gun, and shoot you! I'm only 19 years old!" We were
trying to help both of them but he said, "I'm fine, I'm only
grazed! I want you to help my girlfriend first! My girlfriend
is dying in front of me!!" It was such a helpless feeling because
the ambulance was waiting outside but the shooting was still going on
and the paramedics wouldn't enter the building until it was
secure. There was no window we could break to provide an exit and
she needed help badly but no one dared unlock the door.
I just asked if I could pray for them and
told them they needed to put their faith in Jesus because He cared and
He didn't want them to die. I was able to tell them trusting in
God is vital because it's our only hope of a life better than this
crazy one we find ourselves in the middle of here on earth. At
first Joel was like, "Shut up! We really don't care, it's not
gonna help now!" But Jessica said, "Please, pray," and I hardly knew
how to get the words out but just called on God to keep her with us and
told her to pray to Jesus too because He would help her. As I was
praying for God to help us Joel was saying, "Yes, God, please!"
It's hard to say exactly how long we were in there because I'm sure
time felt slower than it actually was but, realistically, it was
probably 10 - 15 minutes.
Finally, the police got us to open the door,
saying the shooter was now dead (another tough decision but we
decided to trust them too), and told everyone who wasn't wounded to get
out right away. They took Jess and her boyfriend outside to the
ambulance and we ran to the nearest exits.
I went downstairs to try to get out through
the metro entrance but people below told me to get into the gym room with
them because they didn't know if there was more than one gunman or
not. So we stayed in there for another several minutes until the
police opened the door and stood guard as we all had to evacuate with
our hands up so they would know that none of us were armed. We
had to go around along the wall and back into the metro and I wanted to
find Sharon but they wouldn't let us anywhere near back
inside. Also, I didn't know for sure that Sharon was inside or where to look for
her so I figured the smartest thing to do at that point would be to get
out and hope she'd been able to do the same. Another girl and I
were debating whether it would be safest to go out to St. Catherine's
Street underground and walk to Lionel Groulx or just take the metro
from Atwater but then the one we needed arrived so we ran and caught it
right away.
As soon as I got above ground I called my
family to say I was out but still no one had heard from Sharon!
On the bus ride home my cell phone was receiving text messages and
ringing constantly with calls from concerned friends who wanted to know
if we were alright. I don't think I took a single
call without another one on call waiting and it was such a
comfort just to know that so many people had heard, cared, and were
praying, and to be able to ask them to pray for Sharon.
Finally, one of the calls was from my sister,
saying she was at Cote Vertu, safe and sound!! It was only later
that we found out that she had almost gone to sit right where the
shooting had started in the cafeteria but had ended up sitting on the
other side because there were not enough seats in the first
location. This put her close to an exit door, which she was able
to slip through and then hide in a computer lab for 20 - 30
minutes. Praise God!
The police finally came and told everyone in
the computer lab to move into Alexis Nihon (the shopping
center attached to Dawson) where they were supposed to
be safe. Sharon was distractedly trying to reach home,
concentrate on homework, and doing anything to keep her mind off of
what was happening because it was so traumatic for her. She
didn't even know where to go that would be safe (they had shut
down the metro at that point) and was trying to reach me when the
gunman suddenly appeared on the floor where she was and everyone
started running again!! As she was running away, the person
behind her got shot!!! It was unbelievable how close to the
mayhem she was those two times! It was an incredible relief
when we were both finally home together again.
Later tonight I called the Montreal
General Hospital and found out that Jessica is now in stable condition
and Joel didn't have to be admitted! Thank You, God!!!
Tragically, one victim, as you have probably heard on the news, did die
(an 18 or 20 year old woman; the news reports keep giving both
ages). Please continue to uplift the wounded and their families
in prayer, especially the 5 who are still in critical condition and are
trying to pull through at the hospital tonight. Pray that God
will reveal Himself to them in this terrible time and raise up
opportunities for Christians to minister His gospel and help to them.
Thank you, thank you, thank you again for all
your prayers, phone calls, and concern. We absolutely saw them
make all the difference today! I don't think going back to Dawson
will ever be the same after what all the students have seen and
experienced there. What was once a happy second home, full of
youthful atmosphere and life has been forever tainted, in a way.
But, at the same time, being alive has never been such an acutely
joyful experience simply because we are! Maybe the biggest
revelation that came home to me through all of this is the seriousness
of the times we are living in. None of us can afford to be
lukewarm, dear brothers and sisters, and we cannot afford to be silent
about our faith and where we stand!! You never know when you
might start losing a classmate or friend right in front of you and know
they don't know Jesus yet. I really can't describe the
desperation of that. Maybe we have all been placed right where we
are for such a time as this. Loving you,
Andrea
This Psalm just says it all:
Psalm 91
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the
Most High
will rest in the shadow of the
Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my
refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."
3 Surely he will save you from the
fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find
refuge;
his faithfulness will be your
shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of
night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in
the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the
wicked.
9 If you make the Most High your
dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-
10 then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your
tent.
11 For he will command his angels
concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your
foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion
and the serpent.
14 "Because he loves me," says the
LORD, "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he
acknowledges my name.
15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."
All human beings should try to learn before they die
What they are running from, and to, and why.
-James Thurber
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