Report on attack at Quebec College says killer's assault rifle should not be available to public

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MONTREAL - Broader access to the federal and Quebec gun registries, a ban on the type of weapon used by Dawson College killer Kimveer Gill and a finetuning of emergency plans were among the recommendations made yesterday by a Quebec coroner examining Gill's rampage.

Gill stormed into the college's downtown campus on Sept. 13, 2006, fatally shooting student Anastasia De Sousa and wounding 16 others before killing himself.

But coroner Jacques Ramsay had praise for police and said that the quick actions of one officer prevented a repeat of the 1989 Ecole polytechnique massacre where 14 women were killed by gunman Marc Lepine.

He said it is vital to isolate the shooter rapidly as police did.

"When we're talking about an active shooter we must intervene quickly," Ramsay said

The coroner said in his report that the weapon used by Gill, a short-barrelled Beretta CX4 Storm rifle, should be banned. Gill obtained the gun legally before his rampage.

Ramsay said assault rifles such as that used by Gill, which has its ammunition clip behind the trigger, should not be available to the public.

Ramsay also said health and education professionals, such as a school principal, should be able to have access to the federal and Quebec gun registries as part of protocols to prevent future rampages.

Ramsay said Gill, who had taken a few drinks before the rampage but was not intoxicated, fired 72 times with his semi-automatic rifle and six times with a handgun. De Sousa was hit about 10 times in the front and back.

"It is likely she was shot mortally with the first shot," Ramsay said of the slain 18-year-old.

Montreal police, who managed to wound Gill in the elbow when they managed to corner him, fired a total of six bullets.