Michael Slobodian and the Brampton High School Shooting (Brampton, Ontario - 1975)

The Canadian Gothic

Curiouscast

History, True Crime, Society & Culture, Documentary

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 18 November 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In May of 1975, a high school in Brampton, Ontario became the scene of Canada's first modern mass school shooting. Sixteen-year-old Michael Slobodian walked into Brampton Centennial Secondary School carrying two rifles in a guitar case and, within minutes, left two people dead, thirteen wounded, and an entire generation traumatized. In this episode of the Canadian Gothic we trace the events leading up to the attack, the moments of terror inside the school, and the survivor stories that have echoed through the decades. This is the forgotten Canadian tragedy that unfolded long before Columbine, a chilling reminder that the roots of modern day school gun violence reach further back, and closer to home, than most realize. Links: thecanadiangothic.com Send a voicememo to the show: https://www.thecanadiangothic.com/contact Subscribe to the show: https://www.thecanadiangothic.com/subscribe Musical Theme: Noir Toyko by Monty Datta Social Links: Website: https://www.thecanadiangothic.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCanadianGothic Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecanadiangothic/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You can listen to the Canadian Gothic early and ad-free on Amazon Music.
0:05.0	Include it with Prime.
0:07.0	You were listening to Canadian Gothic.
0:13.0	Hello listeners.
0:15.0	Tonight we have a deeply unsettling and probably a bit surprising story to talk through.
0:20.0	When we think of school shootings, most of us are picturing the United States.
0:24.6	Columbine, Sandy Hook, Uvaldi, the names have become synonymous with this American-style tragedy.
0:31.6	But what many Canadians don't know is that the first modern-day school shooting happened here at home, and it contained all
0:38.6	the hallmarks we would see repeated so many times in the United States and beyond. It happened
0:44.2	in Brampton, Ontario, in the spring of 1975. Just as lunch break started, a 16-year-old
0:50.9	student walked into the Brampton Centennial Secondary School carrying two rifles in a guitar case.
0:56.9	The five minutes of terror that followed would end with two dead, 13 wounded, and an entire generation of students scarred.
1:05.1	This is a heavy one, and there's a lot to it. So let's get started.
1:08.9	Tonight, in this episode of the Canadian Gothic, we'll discuss
1:12.3	the story of Michael Slobodian and the 1975 Brampton High School shooting. A young gunman
1:18.5	armed with two automatic rifles wandered the halls of this school this morning, shooting at
1:22.9	anyone that moved. Within 10 minutes, a teacher, a student, and the gunmen were dead and 14 students injured.
1:29.3	I remember when the shootings all began again, you know, like, what, six, seven years ago or whatever,
1:36.3	I remember thinking, well, I wonder when Canada's going to start talking about Brampton, if they're going to remember it.
1:43.3	And I thought I would keep
1:45.4	looking going well why does no one talk about it oh I guess they don't want to
1:49.3	admit it well that's what Americans do we don't do that but the truth is it started
	...

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