LA LOCHE, Sask. — Two educators just starting out their teaching careers are among four people killed in a mass shooting in northern Saskatchewan.
Adam Wood and Marie Janvier have been identified by family and friends as having been gunned down at the junior and senior high school in La Loche Friday.
Wood started teaching at the La Loche Community School in September.
His family in Ontario said in a statement that he was an adventurer with a passion for life who made people laugh until their stomachs hurt.
"Adam had just begun his teaching career in La Loche last September and was enjoying his time," the statement reads. "He was always up for a good challenge and lived each day joyously."
Marie Janvier also started working at the school last fall as a classroom aide or tutor.
Janvier's friend Ashton Lemaigre said the woman, in her early 20s, was kind and patient with children and planned to get her teaching degree someday.
"The kids loved having her around," Lemaigre said. "When we were out and about kids would say 'Hi.' They would just come running to her. And she was just a friend to everybody."
Four people in total were killed in the shooting and several others were injured.
Police said they were called to the school shortly after the lunch hour for reports of gunfire.
Witnesses recalled a terrifying scene of panic as students fled for their lives.
Noel Desjarlais-Thomas remembered his friends were running past him, urging him to get out.
"Run, bro, run!" the 16-year-old said his friends shouted. "There's a shotgun! There's a shotgun! They were just yelling to me. And then I was hearing those shots, too, so of course I started running."
Geordie Janvier, 16, was walking in the halls when the shots rang out.
"We were going back to gym class, that's when I heard the first shot," he explained. "I looked back. He didn't see me, that's why I ran to the gym class, closed the door, and I ran in the dressing room. We stayed there for, like, three hours."
It's believe the shooting began at a home in the community, where witnesses have said the shooter gunned down two relatives before moving to the school.
Desjarlais-Thomas forwarded to The Canadian Press a screenshot of a chilling exchange that had taken place on social media a short time before the shooting between a young man and his friends.
"Just killed 2 ppl," wrote the young man. "Bout to shoot ip the school."
School co-ordinator Norma Janvier said she was in her office when she heard gunshots.
"I didn't know what was going on ... I thought the kids were just playing around or something, like a locker slamming and stuff," she told The Canadian Press.
She was going to check on the noise, but a teacher closed her office door, so Janvier stayed inside until she was told it was safe to leave.
"All I heard was cops running around in the school."
'RUN, BRO, RUN!' TEEN DESCRIBES MOMENTS AFTER SHOTS FIRED AT SASKATCHEWAN SCHOOL
LA LOCHE, Sask. — As people in a remote Dene community try to fathom any possible motive for a mass shooting that took the lives of four people and wounded several others Friday, witnesses are recalling a terrifying scene of panic as students fled for their lives.
Noel Desjarlais-Thomas was just returning from lunch at the junior and senior high school in La Loche, Sask., when the shooter opened fire. In a flash, his friends were running past him, urging him to get out.
"Run, bro, run!" the 16-year-old said his friends shouted.
"There's a shotgun! There's a shotgun! They were just yelling to me. And then I was hearing those shots, too, so of course I started running."
The teen said it was a blur of partial sights and sounds. He thought he saw one of his friends fall to the ground after being shot, but wasn't sure.
"You know how it is — something happens, you've got to go for your life. I ended up running and I didn't want to look back."
Geordie Janvier, 16, was walking in the halls when the shots rang out.
"We were going back to gym class, that's when I heard the first shot," he explained. "I looked back. He didn't see me, that's why I ran to the gym class, closed the door, and I ran in the dressing room. We stayed there for, like, three hours."
Desjarlais-Thomas forwarded to The Canadian Press a screenshot of a chilling exchange that had taken place on social media a short time before the shooting between a young man and his friends.
"Just killed 2 ppl," wrote the young man. "Bout to shoot ip the school."
"Why?" asked a friend. "Why?"
Kevin Janvier said his 23-year old daughter, Marie, a teacher, was one of the victims.
RCMP told him the gunman is believed to have first shot two of his own siblings before killing Janvier’s daughter. He didn't know if the shooter personally knew his daughter.
"He shot two of his brothers at his home and made his way to the school," said Janvier, adding that Marie was his only child. "I'm just so sad."
RCMP confirmed at a brief news conference Friday night that the alleged shooter was in custody and they had investigators at both the school and a second location.
Speaking from Davos, Switzerland, a solemn Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he had been advised of the situation by the commissioner of the RCMP.
"Obviously this is every parent's worst nightmare," the prime minister said. "We all grieve with and stand with the community of La Loche and all of Saskatchewan on this terrible, tragic day."
Bruce Heyman, the U.S. ambassador to Canada, sent a message of condolence and solidarity.
"We have experienced similar tragedies far too often in the United States and understand all too well the heartache and sadness that result from such a horrific event," he said.
Canadian tennis superstar Milos Raonic, competing at the Australian Open, dedicated his game victory to the people of La Loche.
"It was a difficult day back home ... I want to take a moment and give thoughts to that community, the families, the students and the school affected. Today's victory was for that community and a quick recovery. All of Canada and I'm sure the world is behind you."
Initially, the indication was five people had been killed but RCMP Chief Supt. Maureen Levy ended up revising that down to four at a news conference late Friday, adding that "a number" of others were injured.
She offered no further details.
"I can't give any information about their sex or their ages. We are in the early onset of the investigation and we want to ensure the integrity of the investigation."
Levy said one male was in custody, police had confiscated a firearm and there was no remaining risk to public safety. She said she was not aware of the threatening chat on social media.
The first reports of shots being fired at the high school came in at around 1 p.m. Mounties issued a warning to parents and residents to stay away, then locked down nearby Ducharme Elementary School as a precaution.
School co-ordinator Norma Janvier said she was in her office when she heard gunshots.
"I didn't know what was going on ... I thought the kids were just playing around or something, like a locker slamming and stuff," she told The Canadian Press.
She was going to check on the noise, but a teacher closed her office door, so Janvier stayed inside until she was told it was safe to leave.
"All I heard was cops running around in the school."
Saskatchewan Premier Wall promised that necessary crisis support and counselling services would be provided to the community of 3,000 on the eastern shore of Lac La Loche in the northern boreal forest.
Many residents of the small community hunt and fish to support their families. Desjarlais-Thomas said it is not the kind of place where kids would expect something so terrible.
"What I saw today was something un-ordinary," said the teen. "I just thought it was going to be a normal Friday and then, yeah, that happened."
LA LOCHE SHOOTING CASTS SHADOW OVER TRUDEAU TALKS AT WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
Friday's mass shooting at a school in La Loche, Sask., is casting a shadow over Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's final day at an international summit of financial and economic elites.
The shooting was the first thing Trudeau talked about with Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam during their meeting Saturday morning at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
The RCMP confirmed that four people were killed, a number of others were wounded, and that a lone male suspect was arrested after shots rang out at the Dene community's junior and senior high school.
Trudeau told Salam the tragedy has seen Canadians pull together yet again for a community needing support. The prime minister added that the question now is how to prevent such tragedies from reoccurring
Salam lamented that these kinds of shootings are happening everywhere — "as if they have become the fashion."
A LIST OF CANADIAN SCHOOL SHOOTINGS
Four people were killed and a number of others injured in a shooting in a northern Saskatchewan Dene community Friday. Shots were fired at the La Loche high school building around 1 p.m. Here is a list of some other school shootings in Canada:
Ecole Polytechnique, Montreal: On Dec. 6, 1989, 25-year-old Marc Lepine shot more than two dozen people, killing 14 women before killing himself.
____
Dawson College, Laval, Que: On Sept. 13, 2006, 18-year-old Anastasia De Sousa was killed and 20 others were hurt when gunman Kimveer Gill, 25, opened fire with a semi-automatic weapon. Gill was killed in a police gunfight.
W.C. Jeffreys Collegiate Institute, Toronto: On May, 23, 2007, 15-year-old Jordan Manners is found in a hallway with single gunshot wound to the chest. He later dies in hospital. Two teens were charged with first-degree-murder and were later acquitted.
_____
Les Racines de vie Montessori, Gatineau, Que.: On April 5, 2013, two men die during a shooting at the school's daycare. The shooter is identified as Robert Charron. Thirty-eight-year-old Neil Galliou is killed before Charron takes his own life. Charron told staff to take the 53 children to safety before he opened fire.
_____
W.R. Myers High: Taber, Alta.: On April 28, 1999, a 14-year-old Grade 9 students shoots three students, killing 17-year-old Jason Lang before he is arrested.
