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Montrealers in Munich don't give into fear after shooting

With Munich in lockdown following a shooting, many were left far from home and seeking shelter. Locals turned to social media and began tweeting "#Offentür" or "Open Door" to offer their homes to those who were stranded. Munich residents offer their homes on Twitter with #Offentür as the city was under lockdown

'I don't want to live in fear,' says Montrealer in Munich, who walked home from work despite lockdown orders

Elysha Enos · CBC News ·
Heather Lafleur opened her home to stranded locals after the lockdown and Guillaume Champeau chose to walk the streets to get home despite the fear and shock in the city. (Heather Lafleur, Guillaume Champeau)

With Munich in lockdown following a shooting, many were left far from home and seeking shelter. 

Locals turned to social media and began tweeting "#Offentür" or "Open Door" to offer their homes to those who were stranded.

It's similar to what Parisians did after the Bataclan shooting with the #PorteOuverte hashtag.  

Montrealer Heather Lafleur lives in Munich and opened her doors to people who were stranded after the subway was closed and the streets deserted.

"[Locals] are able to post something to social media with an address and allow people to come into their homes, and feed them, or allow them to spend the night until the city is safe," Lafleur told CBC Montreal's Homerun.

Lafleur hosted several people from her husband's office and made them dinner.  

"We had people over and ate and tried to celebrate life. We have to continue on."

Another Montrealer in Munich, Guillaume Champeau, insisted on walking home from his job to defy terrorism.

"I don't want to live in fear," Champeau said. "Bad things happen all over the world. You have to live your life."

He added that the feeling in Munich at the moment is "pure dread" and it makes him appreciate how safe Canada is.

Evacuated people from Munich's Olympia Einkaufszentrum shopping centre walk with their hands up in Munich on following a shooting. (Stringer/AFP/Getty)
  Lafleur agrees and said that the string of terrorist attacks in Europe makes her consider coming back to Canada after 20 years abroad.

She said her 12-year-old daughter heard a strange noise in the subway one day and thought it was a shooting.

"The luxury of safety we've had our whole lives is over," Lafleur said.

with files from Kate McKenna and CBC Montreal's Homerun

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