Goth community says culture not to blame for montreal shooting

Website where accused gunman had journal does not ‘condone or influence this type of behaviour’

BRYNA HALLAM CUP NATIONAL BUREAU CHIEF

TORONTO (CUP) — Kimveer Gill may have been into goth culture, but that didn’t make him a killer.

Members of vampirefreaks.com, the online community where Gill kept his online journal, feel goth is getting a bad rap from the media.

Gill, 25, is accused of being the gunman in a shooting rampage that killed one woman and resulted in his own death on Sept. 13 in Montreal.

“We do not condone or influence this type of behavior in any way,” wrote Jethro Berelson, the site’s webmaster, on the main page. “Just because someone goes around shooting people and happens to be a member of VampireFreaks, doesn’t mean that this website has influenced him to do such a horrible thing.

“The goth scene is a very friendly, nurturing, non-violent community and we are very supportive of our users and do not condone any illegal activities.”

Initial media reports described Gill as wearing a long, black trench coat.

Th is isn’t the first time vampirefreaks.com has gotten attention of this kind.

Jeremy Steinke, 23, and a 12- year-old girl are accused of killing a Medicine Hat, Alta., family in April. Friends of the girl have said they met on vampirefreaks.com.

But users have been quick to point out that Gill was just one of the site’s many users, and that he likely had blogs on other sites.

“People don’t care that it was one of the over 600,000 members,” wrote a member who goes by Xx666jewl666xX. “They think one means all.”