Shooting suspect was bullied, source claims
17-year-old who allegedly killed four, injured seven kept to himself, friend says
LA LOCHE, SASK.— If being bullied and teased about his big ears bothered him, he didn’t let on, said those close to the 17-year-old suspect in a deadly shooting spree in northern Saskatchewan.
The teen, who can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, appeared in court Monday and is accused of orchestrating the school shooting, one of the deadliest in Canada’s history, at La Loche Community School last Friday.
Childhood friend Emilio Montgrand, 25, said the alleged shooter was teased about his appearance, especially his big ears. Despite their age difference, Montgrand said the two were close and would often play Nintendo 64 together.
If the taunts bothered him, Montgrand said, the 17-year-old didn’t speak about it, and kept his anger bottled up inside.
“If he actually talked about it, it wouldn’t even go this far,” Montgrand said. “Right now, it’s no use blaming him for whatever happened.”
Dressed in an orange jumpsuit, the 17-year-old suspect appeared in court on Monday with his legs and hands shackled. The tall, thin teen spoke in a soft voice as the judge asked him whether he understood he is not to contact several people involved in the case.
He is accused of killing two brothers, Drayden Fontaine,13, and Dayne Fontaine, 17, in their home before going on a shooting rampage at the school, killing two teachers — Adam Wood, 35, and Marie Janvier, 21 — and wounding seven others.
The father of Dayne Fontaine said his son liked to be outdoors.
“He was a good kid,” said Gerald Moise, as he helped prepare for the burial of his son.
“He always (went) up north with grandparents hunting and he liked quadding (driving an ATV).”
The suspect is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and seven counts of attempted murder. He is to be held in custody until his next court appearance Feb. 22.
Those who knew him say the accused was a quiet boy, and gave little indication of the turmoil that could be within.
Lyle Herman, a substitute teacher at La Loche Community School, said he remembers the accused being in his classroom and speaking only when he asked Herman if he could leave to use the washroom.
“That was pretty much about it. He was a very quiet boy,” said Herman, who added that he also never saw him speak to his friends.
Herman said he never witnessed any bullying, but he also never saw its effects. “He never seemed to have anger,” said Herman, who said he was originally supposed to be teaching at the school that day but ended up being called to the school in Bear Creek, Sask.
“When I think about all this, with sometimes kids bullying kids, I think to myself, it seems to me that it’s the quietest one. Maybe there was a problem deep within that we never knew. I don’t know,” he said.
Montgrand, who is a volunteer firefighter, said that, in the wake of Friday’s horrific attack, it was difficult to feel anger at his childhood friend. He remembered being bullied about his weight when he went to school in La Loche, and he knew how painful it could be.
He said the accused was a nice person who he didn’t think was capable of violence. “I do blame the bullying,” Montgrand said. One community member who has a child at the school said the accused was a loner who was teased and bullied because “he’s got big ears.”
She said one of her children, who graduated from the high school, told her that the accused rarely spoke to anyone in school and would often stand off to the side when his peers were spending time in the cafeteria.
“He would just stand there, like just watching, not saying anything, until the recess is over and then he’ll just go back to his class,” said the community member, who asked that she not be identified by name due to con- cerns she might face repercussions at work.
Lauren Lemaigre, a family friend, said the suspect had a history of being bullied and generally kept to himself. “I don’t know how to explain him, but he was always in his room,” she said.
But he was never violent, she said, and she was shocked to hear he was a suspect.
Friends of Alicia Fontaine, the mother of the two brothers who were shot and killed in their home, say she has been telling people that she can never hate the alleged suspect.
“No words will bring my babies back,” Dr. Shefali Thakore, who used to work in the community, recalls Fontaine saying to her about how she feels about the suspect.
The events in La Loche have inspired an outpouring of sympathy from politicians across the country and sparked a discussion about the need for more social services in northern communities.