It was like being in a cathedral, absolute silence,” Jérôme says. “As soon as they stopped to reload, there was no sound. He heard the shooter’s steady breaths behind him as he fired on one of Jérôme’s friends. They were trapped, lying on the ground during what he described as the “calm cleanup.” Jérôme, at the concert with six friends, was just below, close to the sound console. There is no way out,” Edith tells the judges, her hands twisting as she pulls rings off her fingers and replaces them one by one. A giant of a man lay next to her, both of them breathing as quietly as their panicked bodies would allow. The laser dot swings wildly on the screen as her shaking hands point to a stairwell she took on an instinct she describes as “something animal, almost reptilian.” In the balcony, she dived beneath a folding chair. She, like nearly every other survivor, told the judge she didn’t want her last name to be publicly released. And I think, will it hurt? Will I lose consciousness? Die immediately?”Įdith was at the bar near steps leading down toward the pit. When the shooting started at the entrance at 9:47 p.m., there was only one place to go: Back inside, into the dance pit. The shaking dot of light finds where they were when the attack started, and sometimes where they ended up.Ĭlarisse, then 24, was in the coatroom with a friend, getting ready to run out to a nearby convenience store for beers in the time-honored subterfuge of the young and broke. Holding a laser pointer in trembling hands, witness after witness faces a courtroom screen with the Bataclan’s floorplan - a floorplan that the technical director handed to police the moment they arrived to locate the doors and windows.
#TWITTER TRAPPED IN A CLOSET MOMENT SERIES#
Hundreds more were injured in body and soul, 90 of them at the Bataclan, in the three-hour series of attacks. In all, 130 people died that night at the Bataclan, at France’s national stadium and in neighborhood restaurants and bars. For most, it is their first public reckoning with a night they describe, one after another, day after day, in haunting words that are startlingly similar. The testimony marks the first time many survivors are describing – and learning – what exactly happened that night at the Bataclan, filling in the pieces of a puzzle that is taking shape as they speak.
They stand just a few steps away from 14 men accused in the bloodshed - the deadliest in modern France. Targets who were no longer human to either their hunters or themselves.įor more than two weeks, dozens of survivors from the Bataclan concert hall in Paris have testified in a specially designed courtroom about the Islamic State group’s attacks on Nov. If you have a moment, head into the office of Desjardins Insurance Agent, Anita Ip, simply for a cup of coffee and an afternoon chat.They were animals, many of them say. They attended a wine-tasting event at Kensington Wine Market for their team-building event and headed over to Trapped afterwards for an escape room. Even at Desjardin’s, Anita and the team will always purchase an extra box of donuts for the homeless, an extra pair of gloves or socks for the donation bin, shop local whenever they can, and Anita herself gets to choose charities that are close to her heart for their yearly community grant.Īnita and the team’s go-to Kensington spots include Vero Bistro (Anita and her husband often book a table here for special occasions), Midtown and Original Joes for happy hour, Orangetheory Fitness for a workout, Flippin’ Burger (her husband favourite burger joint), and Sunnyside Market for their Chia Pudding and Bowls of Glory. The giving spirit of the community always amazes them – whether it’s hosting workshops, having a winter closet outside the store, or supporting local artists, all merchants seem to give back to the community in one way or another. Their favourite part about Kensington is how all of the people and businesses are so friendly – she loves that everywhere she goes she knows someone.
They certainly don’t identify as a dry insurance agency – they give back to the community, host women’s groups, and like to be a central gathering spot for the community to just come in for a coffee, whether they want to talk about insurance or maybe just the weather! Their goal is to humanize the insurance process with face-to-face interactions and community engagement. They are loving the fact that they are now a totally Canadian company, and that it is agent-based so they can really be involved in the community. Formally known as State Farm, the insurance company still offers the same great service and are now located at 220-1220 Kensington Rd NW. We got the chance to sit down and chat with Anita Ip of the Kensington’s Desjardins Insurance, who have been the neighbourhood hot-spot for insurance since Nov, 2011.