Story Archive

Making the Point

Rock Dagenais, 25, took a sawed-off shotgun, 100 rounds of ammunition, and a hunting knife into Ecole Saint-Laurent, an elementary school in Buckingham, Que., Canada. But he insists he wasn’t intent on hurting anybody in the school, even though he told teachers he’d kill everyone if they called police. Instead, he told the judge, he saw the gun as “a kind of pass” to gain entry to the school so he could tell the students they should respect others and not bully them. In court, he described his parents’ divorce when he was in elementary school, and the years of bullying that followed. “I didn’t accept my parents’ divorce,” he said, crying. So, he bought a shotgun, sawed it off, and rode his bike to the nearest school, where he demanded access to a fourth-grade or higher classroom. He explained that those children would be old enough to understand his message. (MS/Ottawa Citizen) ...So remember kids, when you want something, don’t be a bully — use guns and knives instead.