James Alexander Santos, S.C.

James Alexander Santos, S.C., originally uploaded by johnwmacdonald.

James Alexander Santos, S.C. (STAR OF COURAGE) awarded today at Rideau Hall, Ottawa 19 September 2008.

"On September 13, 2006, a heavily armed man arrived at Dawson College in Montréal, Quebec, and started shooting at people on the street. Witness to the incident, Constable Alain Diallo exited his police cruiser and, dodging bullets aimed at him, followed the suspect into the school. The gunman found himself cornered in the cafeteria and fired at the students around him. Upon arriving at the school, constables Marco Barcarolo and Denis Côté made their way to the atrium above the cafeteria, where they attempted to keep the shooter’s attention away from the students. The gunman then ordered student James Santos to stand in front of him to shield him from the police. Despite having witnessed, at close range, the violence of the gunman, Mr. Santos tried in vain to get him to surrender. While the gunman was distracted, Vincent Pascale crawled to the cafeteria door and guided some 40 students to safety. Yves Morin was shot and injured in the shoulder when he pushed a female student out of the shooter’s line of fire. The incident came to an end when, wounded by a shot fired by Constable Côté, the gunman turned his weapon on himself and took his own life." via GG website
www.gg.ca/media/doc.asp?lang=e&DocID=5489