Dawson College shooting survivor becomes Montreal police officer

Twenty years after surviving the Dawson College shooting in Montreal, James Santos is now a Montreal police officer. He says the force helped save his life on the day of the attack and later inspired him to serve the community. The shooting took place on Sept. 13, 2006, when a gunman opened fire at Dawson College, killing 18yearold Anastasia De Sousa and injuring 16 others. Santos, who was 17 at the time, said he was with De Sousa in the cafeteria when the attack began and tried to protect her and other students during the chaos. Santos said the experience left him with trauma, nightmares and panic attacks, but therapy, military service and police training helped him work through it. He joined the Montreal police in 2018 after spending about a decade in the military and later working in a town outside Montreal.