Canada: Parliament Hill Shooting

TenEightyOne

TenEightyOne

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TenEightyOne
TenEightyOne
Live text news from the BBC.

A gunman (possibly two) has opened fire on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

One person (believed to be a soldier) has been injured. Currently the Hill is on lockdown while police and security forces search for the gunman/men.

It's reported that Stephen Harper was on the Hill but has been safely transported elsewhere.

It isn't currently known if this incident is related to the attack on policemen yesterday or if it's directly related to Canada's recent increase in security alert level.
 
Here's what I've read so far:

- At least two people have been shot after a man with a rifle opened fire on Parliament Hill and the nearby cenotaph.
- An arrest has been made.
- The victim appears to be a soldier. Several people were seen performing CPR.
- Another body is reported to be on the ground just outside the Library of Parliament. Dozens of shots were heard.
- Two men were seen jumping from a Toyota Corolla, followed by dozens of shots.
- Veteran Affairs Minister Julian Fantino told QMI Agency at least one of the shooters was shot and killed inside the building.
- Journalists reported police were trying to keep them away from the scene. Those inside Parliament reported they were told to stay inside rooms with the door locked.
- The shooting comes just two days after a newly converted jihadist ran down two soldiers in his car in a Montreal parking lot, killing one.
 
One gunman has been shot. Officers suspect there may be one or more remaining gunmen.

Video of the moment he entered the parliament building is here. Viewer discretion advised.


EDIT: Vid link corrected, my bad.
 
Terrifying stuff. That video is chilling, I never thought I'd bee seeing active gunfire in the parliament building.

Read that all Canadian Forces bases nationwide are being closed to the public. Reportedly JTF2 (Canadian tier 1 special forces) operators are on the scene now. If so I'd be pretty concerned as one of the shooters, those guys do not 🤬 around.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/par...ier-killed-at-national-war-memorial-1.2808710

EDIT: CBC saying that the video in the Parliament building that's making the rounds is reportedly where one of the shooters was killed, suspected there's 3 shooters and 1 has been killed by police.
 
Noob616
Reportedly JTF2 (Canadian tier 1 special forces) operators are on the scene now. If so I'd be pretty concerned as one of the shooters, those guys do not 🤬 around.
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Someone's arrived in their special incognito armoured SUV.

EDIT: Reports now suggest there may be five shooters and that at least one may be "downtown". @Noob616, how far is that from the Hill?

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One shooter, three, now five?

I understand there is confusion at this stage, but do we have any idea as to the whos or whys? Why had Canada's security alert gone up recently?
 
Hm, interesting.

One would not have Canada down as a threatening or intimidating foreign power, more of somewhere that keeps under the radar especially given its neighbour. But I could be wrong on that.
 
Police clearing the Rideau centre with reports of shots fired inside.

EDIT: Wiki says it's a 3-floor downtown shopping centre. Holy crap :\

EDIT EDIT: Confirmed one person shot in the Rideau centre.

Sounds as if the soldier who was shot initially may have been on ceremonial station (one of two) at the War Memorial itself. A reporter in the Parliamentary Precinct is on the phone to the Beeb on their live feed and saying that police seem to think there is one shooter at large and that two have been shot.

It's now been confirmed that the soldier has died.
 
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Liquid
Hm, interesting.

One would not have Canada down as a threatening or intimidating foreign power, more of somewhere that keeps under the radar especially given its neighbour. But I could be wrong on that.
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Canada has always tried to maintain political neutrality but the policies of the nation will never stop radicalised citizens targeting something familiar to them. Basically the country this is happening in is irrelevant to the incident.

That hallway video was pretty intense, you rarely see something like that caught on camera.
 
Liquid
Hm, interesting.

One would not have Canada down as a threatening or intimidating foreign power, more of somewhere that keeps under the radar especially given its neighbour. But I could be wrong on that.
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BBC has just interviewed a Canadian senator who said the attack was basically blowback for Canada's support (jet fighters?) for the anti-ISIS coalition.
 
Robin.
Canada has always tried to maintain political neutrality but the policies of the nation will never stop radicalised citizens targeting something familiar to them. Basically the country this is happening in is irrelevant to the incident.

That hallway video was pretty intense, you rarely see something like that caught on camera.
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What is relevant to the incident is the answer to the question, what societal group is spawning "radicalized citizens"?
 
Jeez. I've walked in that very hallway, so seeing video of shots fired in it is just surreal.

A few friends have family there, I hope they're all safe. Like Noob said, if JTF2 is on the scene, all the better for ending this quickly.
 
Michael Zehaf-Bibeau was named as the dead gunman, according to garbled reports on FOX news.

Edit: He is identified as a 32 year old Canadian citizen.
 
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Liquid
Hm, interesting.

One would not have Canada down as a threatening or intimidating foreign power, more of somewhere that keeps under the radar especially given its neighbour. But I could be wrong on that.
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We're probably Israel's most unwavering ally, we don't give as much tangibly as the US but even they show more restraint than our Prime Minister in their support of Israel. We've had soldiers in Afghanistan from 2002-2011, and from 2006 until the end our military was in the thick of things in Kandahar and involved in some of the most intense fighting. Our special forces units have been involved in Afghanistan in attacks against high ranking Taliban insurgents, and assisted the SAS in rescuing Canadian/UK hostages in Iraq in 2006.

There's a perception of Canada as a neutral middle power, or a mediator in world events. I don't really know if that's as true anymore post 9/11. I think the days of starting the first peacekeeping force in the Suez Crisis, or Romeo Dallaire in Rwanda are past us. Our military operates as a global military, and we have been regularly deployed as a military force, and not peacekeepers since 9/11.

We sent fighter jets and ships to Libya in 2011, have been very outspoken against ISIS, and just yesterday we sent fighter jets to Iraq to join the air campaign against ISIS. We're not there in numbers, 4 jets in Libya, 6 went to Iraq yesterday, but what matters to radicals is that we're sending our military at all, and that we support the US and Israel. The reality is it would be pretty difficult to differentiate our foreign policy approach to Iraq from the US or UK, we didn't go to Iraq in 2003 but that was a long time ago and under a very different PM. If push ever came to shove we would be right there with the UK and USA, and that's what matters in that regard.

This isn't necessarily an ISIS/Iraq related thing, there's nothing tangible that really points to that. The CBC did not even once today mention that as a possibility, but I think it's on everyone's mind. There are elements of radical Islam that exist in Canada, Canadians have had their passports revoked leaving to Syria to join ISIS, as well as a bit of a concern of "homegrown" terrorists. In this case, the guy's from Quebec and his last name is Bibeau, should this be related to radical Islam he was radicalized from within Canada.
 
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GBO Possum
What is relevant to the incident is the answer to the question, what societal group is spawning "radicalized citizens"?
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Fabulous question!

One prominent point of view has it that radicalized citizens is one of the cohorts you get when a citizenry lacks cultural identity. Some of the other cohorts are harmless, and do such as fight global warming or follow Justin Bieber.

ISIS is apparently attracting those who like the idea of a global Islamic Imperium, a great cause justifying great sacrifice. Perhaps dozens more are sitting on the sideline, waiting to heed the call. IMO, The scaremongering in the media over ISIS, exemplified by Wolf Blitzer blowing hard about the beheadings, the over-the-top reactions by western governments, all pour gasoline on the flaming ardor of would-be radical Islamists. Now, increased domestic militarization and security measures will further erode freedom and cultural identity. The problem worsens.

So back to the question to what societal group is pursuing an agenda which erodes cultural identity and spawns such terrorists? According to one prominent point of view (not mine), it is none other than the multi-culturists.
 
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Dotini
So back to the question to what societal group is pursuing an agenda which erodes cultural identity and spawns such terrorists? According to one prominent point of view (not mine), it is none other than the multi-culturists.
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It's tough to really get behind that when it comes to Canada because multiculturalism essentially is our cultural identity. This video, while playing into a stereotype is kinda what I'm getting at.



Sikh dudes in turbans with Canadian flags pinned to them jumping around like lunatics high fiving a bunch of drunk white dudes in Vancouver because Team Canada just won the gold medal.

There's certainly a Canadian cultural experience that's pretty common among most white middle class Canadians, but there really is a very different set of cultures across the country. Quebec and the rest of Canada is the most obvious example, but beyond that you get into the rest of other groups who still identify with and express their own cultures as Canadians.
 
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It's not 'multiculturalism'. Doesn't matter where you're from, it's :censored:s being :censored:s. Individuals, not whole groups of people. What culture doesn't have problems?

Hope all members are swiftly dealt with.
 
Noob616
It's tough when it comes to Canada because multiculturalism essentially is our cultural identity. This video, while playing into a stereotype is kinda what I'm getting at.



Sikh dudes in Turbans with Canadian flags pinned to them jumping around like lunatics with a bunch of white and asian dudes in Vancouver because Team Canada just won the gold medal.

There's certainly a Canadian cultural experience that's pretty common among most white middle class Canadians, but there really is a very different set of cultures across the country. Quebec and the rest of Canada is the most obvious example, but beyond that you get into the rest of other groups who still identify with and express their own cultures as Canadians.
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I've spent a lot of quality time in western Canada since the early sixties. Mountain climbing, car and kart racing at Westwood, kayaking, and visiting in the great city of Vancouver, BC. Vancouver is a successful melting pot of cultures, it seems to me.
 
Liquid
It's not 'multiculturalism'. Doesn't matter where you're from, it's :censored:s being :censored:s. Individuals, not whole groups of people. What culture doesn't have problems?

Hope all members are swiftly dealt with.
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I fully agree with you. I can see how Canada backing Israel, and being involved with the US in the middle east makes us implicated/a target in this stuff. I have a hard time believing there's an element of Canadian culture that "spawns" these kinds of people. There's going to be fringes in any society, it's almost like motorcycle gangs in that sense, where the fringes find somewhere to fit in.
 
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Dotini
Michael Zehaf-Bibeau was named as the dead gunman, according to garbled reports on FOX news.

Edit: He is identified as a 32 year old Canadian citizen.
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http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/10/22/soldier-shot-at-war-memorial-near-canadian-parliament/
A government official told Fox that investigators believe Zehaf-Bibeau, who was killed at the scene, had changed his name from Joseph Michael Hall. U.S. agencies also have been advised he was believed to be a convert to Islam and was from Quebec.

Counter terrorism investigators are reviewing his social media traffic and profile, with a focus on any link to the attack on two soldiers in Quebec Monday.

The Toronto Globe and Mail said sources had told the paper Zehaf-Bibeau was recently designated a “high-risk traveler” by the Canadian government and his passport had been seized.
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Apparently ISIS has a standing order for sympathizers to attack America and her allies, particularly focusing on the military and their families. So a small, long-haired man, recently converted to Islam, approaches a pair of elderly, unarmed honor guards at a war memorial, blowing one away with a shotgun, then fleeing into the nearby parliament building where he looses numerous blasts, but was brought down by the elderly Sergeant-at-Arms, Vickers. Anyway, this is the story currently being peddled on FOX news.
 
The guard shot at the war memorial, Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, was 24. They carry rifles but as far as I know they're unloaded. He shot one guard, ran into the parliament building where there was a gunfight between Bibeau and lots of police/security, there's a video of the gunfight filmed by a Globe and Mail reporter online. Bibeau was brought down by the Sergeant-at-Arms, pictured below.

ZUjlmt0.jpg


Unfortunately, Mr. Vickers used a handgun, and not the mace.

You'll probably get better info from CBC than Fox :lol: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ottawa-shooting-live-updates-1.2808737
 
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TenEightyOne
Already posted.

Sound like at least one of the shooters was a "homegrown" jihadi sympathiser, apparently he'd had his passport taken away recently. Source.
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Yes, my guess is they'll find out he really wanted to go off to the Middle East to fight with ISIS and because he had no passport and couldn't leave, figured he'd do some damage here at home. Might even have been inspired or linked to the terrorist that ran over the two soldiers in a parking lot a couple of days ago
 

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