14 DAY TRIAL // Two men have been found dead in a daycare center in Gatineau, Canada on Friday, April 5. The two died in a shooting in a residential area of the city before 10.30 a.m.
The Les Racines de vie Montessori daycare is set up in two facilities, at the 225 Gamelin and the 229 Gamelin addresses, CBC Canada clarifies. Xinhuanet writes that the men were each found lying in one of the facilities.
Staff called police about an armed man making threats at 10.27 a.m. By the time officers arrived at the scene shots had been fired, and the assailant as well as a janitor at a daycare had incurred fatal wounds.
One of the men most likely died from self-inflicted wounds. Robert Charron, who carried in a shotgun was married to the daycare owner, but the pair had been having troubles.
There is no information about the connection between him and the staffer and officials are not confirming that he is the gunman at this point.
News 1130 writes that 53 children were in the two centers at the time of the shooting. They were all safely evacuated and cared for by neighbors until the parents' arrival.
“It was horrible. [...] You see these things on the news and you don’t expect it to happen to you,” says Omar Eltalawi, the father of a three-year-old who attends the daycare.
“Just as you’d expect, it’s scary, terrifying. [...] It’s terrifying to hear that a gunman goes into a daycare, it’s always terrifying. Every parent’s worst nightmare,” another parent notes.
Gatineau police Chief Mario Harel specifies that some of them were witnesses to the gruesome scene.
“It’s a small area, it’s a close space. [...] For sure, they should have been witness (to) the event,” Harel describes.
“We are proceeding with a very careful investigation,” adds Gatineau police Sgt. Jean-Paul LeMay.