Canadian soldier shot at war memorial in Ottawa and shots fired in Parliament Hill

CaroGirl said:

Here's a link to a press conference that shows security camera footage of what happened as the shooter approached Parliament Hill and entered the Centre Block. It's pretty scary and chilling.

IMO, security handled the situation well. I don't know much (anything) about protocol but there were some brave individuals looking after us that morning.

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shakeysix said:

I love Canada and Canadians. No bluster, no braggage, no whining, no hijacking the tragedy for political gain; just the facts. Talk about class--s6

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shakeysix said:

I love Canada and Canadians. No bluster, no braggage, no whining, no hijacking the tragedy for political gain; just the facts. Talk about class--s6

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shakeysix said:

I love Canada and Canadians. No bluster, no braggage, no whining, no hijacking the tragedy for political gain; just the facts. Talk about class--s6

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CaroGirl said:

I agree.

In my experience, there is always a security presence on the grounds of Parliament Hill. Not at the War Memorial, however. With shots fired and a soldier down, security would have been distracted by their need to respond to that crisis.

It's like Monty Python's Spanish Inquisition skit. "No one expects the Spanish Inquisition! Our chief weapon is surprise, fear and surprise." No one expected this on a sunny Wednesday morning in late October.

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cmhbob said:

Xelebes and other Canadian members, my sympathies.

A questioning observation: my impression is that the Canadian press isn't quite as obsessed with the shooter as the American would be, but I freely admit that could be filtered by the internationality of the event. But what I'm seeing down here hasn't talked nearly as much about the shooter as I would have heard had this happened in the US. By now, we'd know where he was from, what high school he went to, and everything about the weapon, too. Is that happening domestically and it's not getting out, or what? Just curious, more than anything else.

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frimble3 said:

Here on the West Coast there's been very little info on the shooter. That's pretty much what they're saying about him: 'the shooter'. If that's the immortality he wanted, well, he got it. On the other hand, there's been stuff about Corporal Cirrillo, Kevin Vickers and the House of Common Security Constable who was wounded - Samearn Son. We have our priorities, publicizing murderers is lower on the list.

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frimble3 said:

For any non-Canadians who aren't getting much Canadian news, a brief round-up: The shooter was a homeless guy, with a prior criminal record in Quebec and B.C.. He apparently had drug issues and mental health problems. He had recently spoken to his mother, for the first time in five years. She made a tearful statement saying that she was crying for his victims, not for him.
His criminal record in B.C. included trying to rob a McDonald's with a pointed stick, and on several occasions he is said to have stated that he wanted to be arrested so that he could get help with his drug problems. So this was maybe more of a desperate escalation than a terrorist attack?
He was apparently a devout Muslim, in that various people who remembered him from homeless shelters remembered him as always finding a corner to spread something for a prayer mat at the appointed times for prayer.
On the other hand, the imam of a local mosque said that he was asked to leave when he disagreed with their policies: the mosque was in favour of outreach to other faiths and being part of the community. He, apparently, felt this was weak and inappropriate, and told them to shape up, and was invited to leave.
And, barring further news, that appears to be it.

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frimble3 said:

For any non-Canadians who aren't getting much Canadian news, a brief round-up: The shooter was a homeless guy, with a prior criminal record in Quebec and B.C.. He apparently had drug issues and mental health problems. He had recently spoken to his mother, for the first time in five years. She made a tearful statement saying that she was crying for his victims, not for him.
His criminal record in B.C. included trying to rob a McDonald's with a pointed stick, and on several occasions he is said to have stated that he wanted to be arrested so that he could get help with his drug problems. So this was maybe more of a desperate escalation than a terrorist attack?

Click to expand...