A Kamloops man is one of the Canadians who came uncomfortably close to the violence that killed more than 100 people in Paris Friday night.
Mike Miltmore was eating dinner at a restaurant in Paris when shots rang out nearby. It sounded like a “bunch of bangs, like firecrackers,” he said.
“I saw people running and very quickly the streets got filled with police cars and also the secret police, with machine guns, came and were closing off the streets.”
Miltmore still didn’t know what was happening, but was told along with those around him to go back to their hotels.
“It was a scary walk back to the hotel because we heard there was somebody on a scooter who had been shooting at restaurants with a shotgun so it was a long night last night, to say the least,” said Miltmore.
IN DEPTH: Full coverage on the Paris attacks
Not being able to speak fluent French, he said he did not realize how serious the situation was at the time, but the mood on Saturday in Paris is somber.
“If you go into the restaurants, a lot of them are empty,” he said. “We were on the subway earlier and there was nobody on the subway at all.”
“My friend that I’m travelling with here, who lives in Paris, says it’s very strange. You can feel the tension in the air.”
Miltmore said what is very apparent today is the support from people in Paris and around the world.
“There are people gathering in public places to offer messages of support and comfort each other,” he said. “You can really feel the community is one of caring and really like to get behind each other.”
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