Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Ottawa Attacks

From the G & M:
"What unfolded during the attack in Ottawa"

The attack on Parliament Hill began with a shooting at the National War Memorial shortly before 10 a.m. A gunman with long black hair approached a soldier standing guard before the cenotaph and fired a long-barrelled weapon at least twice, witnesses say, dropping the wounded soldier to the ground. He was declared dead at hospital hours later.  The gunman then marched across the street to Parliament Hill. It is not clear whether one or more gunmen entered the Parliament Buildings, but dozens of shots were fired. The explosive rattle of gunfire rang through the halls where MPs, journalists and others were ushered to safety and huddled in locked rooms. One gunman was shot dead in Parliament’s Centre Block. One parliamentary guard was shot in the leg and another was grazed. Several MPs reported that the gunman was killed by Parliament’s Sergeant-at-Arms, Kevin Vickers, who is a former police officer although is not normally armed. As police rushed to the scene and civilians scrambled for cover chaos reigned in the area around Parliament Hill. There were reports of gunmen on rooftops in the area. Gunfire was reported near the Château Laurier hotel just before 11 a.m. One report suggested a gunman had escaped on a motorcycle, speeding away on the Queensway highway, but that has not been confirmed. Parliament remains on lockdown. It is not clear yet how many gunmen are involved in the attacks. Many reports have suggested two or three or possibly more. The targets chosen are clearly of some political significance: The tomb of the unknown soldier, the seat of government and the city’s best-known place of commerce. The attacks come just two days after a Canadian soldier was killed in an apparently targeted hit-and-run incident in Quebec. Security officials had just raised the security threat level from low to medium, possibly related to the deployment of Canadian soldiers and planes to the war against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, but not in response to any specific threat. Construction worker Barry Wills told The Globe and Mail that shortly after the first shots were heard, he saw someone hijack a vehicle close to the Parliament Buildings. “I saw this guy, he had a head wrap, he came whipping through the gates, and he had a shotgun,” Mr. Wills said. “He looked back at me, I dove behind my truck. … He hijacked a car, he told the guy to get out of a black car … he drove up, and he went into Centre Block.” At 11:20 a.m., an eight-member police SWAT team with a dog enter Parliament’s Centre Block on the run. They emerged from the main doors and re-entered though the centre doors in the basement.
Police said no arrests have yet been made. “As far I know no one is under arrest,” said Constable Marc Soucy of the Ottawa Police Service. He also said he was “not aware” that any suspects had been shot. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau were all reported safe. Mr. Harper was in a secure location and was briefed by RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson. The PM was scheduled to appear at an event in Toronto with Nobel Peace Prize recipient Malala Yousafzai later Wednesday but that event has been cancelled. He will speak to Canadians at some point later Wednesday. The soldier shot at the War Memorial was treated at Ottawa Civic hospital. He has not yet been named, but he is a reservist from Hamilton with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. The hospital said two other patients have been admitted and are in stable condition. On Parliament Hill, police were going room by room, clearing offices and breaking down locked doors. Some MPs had barricaded themselves in the Conservative caucus room, piling chairs high against the doors. Many other MPs tweeted that they were safe as the security operation continued to unfold around them.

^ No one thinks that Canada would get attacked and so they (Canadians) tend to think see the countries like the US and Israel (that try to stop the groups that want to attack us) as bullies and policing the world. These attacks in the Canadian capital show both Canadians and the other countries that don't take these threats and attacks seriously that they are real and not just made to scare people or push back other domestic issues. Unfortunately, innocent people had to die, but hopefully now the world (and Canada) will do more against Al-Qaeda and ISIS. ^


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/what-unfolded-during-the-attack-in-ottawa/article21229398/

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.