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Ball State alumnus in Paris says the country is uniting after shootings

Paramedics wheel a victim to an ambulance on Jan. 7, 2015 in Paris, France, after an attack where masked gunmen attacked the Paris office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people and injuring seven. At least two masked attackers opened fire with assault rifles in the office and exchanged shots with police in the street outside before escaping by car. President Hollande said there was no doubt it had been a terrorist attack 'of exceptional barbarity.' A major police operation is under way in the Paris area to catch the killers. (Panoramic/Zuma Press/TNS)
Paramedics wheel a victim to an ambulance on Jan. 7, 2015 in Paris, France, after an attack where masked gunmen attacked the Paris office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people and injuring seven. At least two masked attackers opened fire with assault rifles in the office and exchanged shots with police in the street outside before escaping by car. President Hollande said there was no doubt it had been a terrorist attack 'of exceptional barbarity.' A major police operation is under way in the Paris area to catch the killers. (Panoramic/Zuma Press/TNS)

At a train station in Paris Wednesday, a Ball State alumnus was evacuated, unaware of what was going on, or why he was being evacuated. 

Jason Wade didn't have any internet connection, so he couldn't check the news and see there was a shooting at Charlie Hebdo, a satirical newspaper in Paris. 

"No one really took [the evacuation] seriously because no one knew what was happening," Wade said. "Some left, but most ignored it."

Police killed two brothers Friday who were suspects of the newspaper shooting. The brothers had taken a hostage, according to the Associated Press. 

Wade is student teaching in Nancy, France, and he said within the city, there were signs on the street, on restaurant chalkboards and graffiti saying "Je Suis Charlie" (I am Charlie).

His friends on social media have also changed their profile pictures to that slogan, and Wade said it is posted in the corner of all the main TV stations in France.

He said this violence was not normal for French people.

“This really does not happen,” he said. “The whole country is uniting and it is very clear to see. The barbaric acts can only be fought with unity, as President Hollande stated. My students are deeply affected, and I can tell in the classroom.”

Cassandra Martin, another Ball State alumna student teaching in France, lives in a small town a little more than half an hour away from Paris.

She said since Vernon is so small, there wasn't anything going on there to show their support, but most of the bigger cities in France are holding candlelight vigils. 

She said her French friends on her Facebook newsfeed have been posting pictures about the events at Charlie Hebdo.

“I just noticed with all of my French friends, they seem to be really upset about it,” Martin said. “I don’t take it lightly by any means, but I think as an American, I feel like we’re a little more desensitized to it because when 12 people are killed we feel like, ‘Oh it could have been a lot worse’ versus for them, terrorist attacks don’t really happen often and people don’t carry guns around and I think it’s a lot more shocking for them than it was for me.”

One of Martin’s friends, Jeremiah Sanders, was in Paris at the time of the shooting.

He was auditioning at an opera company and had no clue what had happened until after he left.

“As I was going into Paris it was still pretty early in the day,” Sanders said. “On my way back, I noticed there was a distinct change in how much surveillance and security there was in the train stations and in the metro. It seemed like everyone was very focused on getting to their destination and getting home.”

He said that in Paris, people would stop to hang out and talk. It was a completely different atmosphere Wednesday.

“It was strange for me to see people in such a rush and so determined,” Sanders said. “The way of life here is so different and I saw that change when I didn’t know what was going on, seeing military officers carrying heavy guns, seeing people get checked a lot more.”

He said he thought the mourning he witnessed has been similar to the mourning that happened after the terrorist attacks on 9/11 in the U.S.

“I think that their shock and their fear and their emotion is really in line with what I saw during that time period in America,” she said.

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