Holy crap!

Attacker shot dead in Parliament after soldier shot at National War Memorial

Parliament Hill came under attack today after a man with a rifle shot a soldier standing guard at the National War Memorial in downtown Ottawa, before seizing a car and driving to the doors of Parliament Hill's Centre Block nearby.

MPs and other witnesses reported several shots fired inside Parliament, and a gunman has been confirmed dead inside the building. The soldier's condition is not known as this time.

Ottawa police have confirmed shots were fired at three locations: the war memorial, inside Centre Block and at the Rideau Centre shopping mall east of Parliament Hill. The downtown area remains in police lockdown.

It was not immediately known if there are further injuries.

Alain Merisier, who works at the cafeteria in one of the Parliament Buildings, told CBC News that said he saw a man in a car at the Centre Block with a long gun.

Witnesses said they then heard shots fired, and there was an unconfirmed report of a person injured outside the Library of Parliament.

Police confirmed the shooting at the War Memorial, and sealed off the area while the injured soldier was given emergency medical aid. He was later put into an ambulance.

"We were waiting there for a city tour and suddenly I heard four shots," said Jan Luchtenburg, a tourist visiting downtown Ottawa from Holland.
...........
Scott Walsh, who was working on Parliament Hill, said he saw a man running with a double-barrelled shotgun, wearing a scarf and blue jeans.

Walsh said the man hopped over the stone fence that surrounds Parliament Hill, with his gun forcing someone out of their car. He then drove to the front doors of Parliament and fired at least two shot, Walsh said.

Cabinet ministers, MPs and journalists in the buildings housing the House of Commons and Senate were in lockdown as police tracked the gunman.

The Prime Minister's Office says Stephen Harper is safe and not on Parliament Hill. Opposition Leader Tom Mulcair and Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau are also reported safe.

Police are still searching for the gunman, and have sealed off the area, moving bystanders and reporters to the nearby Chateau Laurier Hotel. Other witnesses were taken to the city's police headquarters. (I assume the headline was updated after this..)

New Democrat MP Hélène Laverdière said she heard 20 to 30 shots, and hit the floor. She and fellow MPs Charlie Angus and Rosane Doré Lefebvre were later led out of the Centre Block to safety.

Doré Lefebvre said she was worried about getting her daughter from the daycare facility on Parliament Hill.

http://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/at ... ar-BBaCbqE

I'll wait before commenting.

From multiple shooters to 2 shooters to 1... I smell False Flag. There's nothing this Harper creep wants more than a good war.

oskar, I'm curious: why are you "... wait[ing] before commenting"?

Sooz

Waiting for "real" information and not reacting to reporters making all kinds of silly statements. For example, one "reported" further shooting at Rideau Centre Mall - it never happened.

IMO, the most probable is a vet/soldier suffering from untreated PTSD.

Both victim and shooter confirmed dead.

Seems that a petty criminal went beserk.
Harper, however, has ramped up the anti-terrorism rhetoric in order to shove his un-constiutional bills through Parliament while he fiddles with loosening up our gun control laws even more.

I have to agree oskar. Mental illness does not equal terrorist, but I do think a lot of terrorists are mentally ill. If that makes sense. Nothing to panic about with this man, imo. He just went nuts. We'll see if there is any other information that comes out....

Canada Killer Believed 'Devil Was After Him'

The gunman who killed a soldier in Ottawa and stormed Canada's parliament had been put on a terror watch list, it has emerged.

The attacker, identified as Michael Zehaf-Bibeau by Canadian media, was considered "high risk" and had seen his passport confiscated to stop him travelling abroad to join Islamic State terrorists in Iraq or Syria.

But the 32-year-old was able to strike at the heart of his home country's capital, shooting dead Corporal Nathan Cirillo before he was himself gunned down by Sergeant-At-Arms Kevin Vickers as he launched his assault on parliament.

US sources said the killer was a convert to Islam from Quebec who grew up in Laval and Montreal and was called Michael Joseph Hall before he changed his name.

Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper reported that he was the son of Susan Bibeau, a senior civil servant with Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Board, while his stepfather or adoptive father was Bulgasem Zehaf, a Libyan businessman who once owned Montreal's Cafe Tripoli.

Former neighbour Janice Purnell told CTV Zehaf-Bibeau was privately-educated and a typical teenager. She said she once called the police because he was playing loud music.

Evidence has been emerging that suggests he fitted the common jihadist profile of a troubled young man who had turned to radical Islam.

Canadian network CTV reported he had been jailed for two years for robbery and weapons possession in 2003, four years after his mother and Mr Zehaf had divorced.

Quebec court records also show that he pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to comply with a judge's order and several drug offences, including marijuana possession.

He reportedly stood trial for robbery in Vancouver in 2011 after a psychiatric assessment ruled he was fit for the judicial process.

Family friend Dave Bathurst told the CBC Zehaf-Bibeau did not appear to have extremist views, but had at times shown a disturbing side.

He said: "We were having a conversation in a kitchen, and I don't know how he worded it - he said the devil is after him."

Mr Bathurst said his friend frequently talked about the presence of Shaytan in the world - an Arabic term for devils and demons, adding: "I think he must have been mentally ill."

Bathurst last saw Zehaf-Bibeau praying in a Vancouver-area mosque six weeks ago and said that he spoke of wanting to go to the Middle East soon - although he claimed he only wanted to study Islam and Arabic.

His case has parallels with that of Martin Couture-Rouleau, a 25-year-old convert who rammed his car into two soldiers in the Montreal suburb of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu on Monday - killing one of them before he was shot dead.

Rouleau also had his passport confiscated in July after he was arrested at an airport on his way to Turkey.

He was among 90 people being tracked by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on suspicion of taking part in militant activities or planning to do so.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/can ... ailsignout

If these two had diabetes they'd have been receiving treatment but since they had mental problems...
That's the real issue and not terrorism, Islam or any other politically convenient excuse.

I generally agree with this comment ~ but I'm not sure that all "true believers" are mentally ill ~

Sooz

GOOD JOB, Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers! ~ Sooz

Meet the Lord High Badass of Canada
By Josh Marshall Published October 23, 2014, 12:34 AM EDT

As you have no doubt heard a member of the Canadian military and an attacker were killed today in the Canadian Parliament complex in Ottawa in what appears to be the second ISIL-inspired 'lone wolf' terrorist attack in Canada this week. Amidst all the other details and repercussions of this incident, there's one detail that I didn't fully grasp until this evening. And that is that the guy who shot and killed Michael Abdul Zehaf Bibeau, thus ending the attack, wasn't just someone from the Sergeant-at-Arms office but the actual Sergeant-at-Arms, 58 year old Kevin Vickers - the holder of an office that is largely ceremonial in nature.

You can see him here in his usual get-up, with that humongous mace he carries around - I assume only on formal occasions.


Here he is handling a rather less high stakes security situation (escorting out a protestor) during the Speech from the Throne in 2011 ...


And here he is during the chaotic situation today, apparently just after shooting Bibeau. You can see the handgun in his right hand at his waist.


The shootings happened as the parties were holding regular caucus meetings. The parliamentarians barricaded themselves in their meeting rooms as the gunman was at large in the halls of the building. According to one account, after shooting Bibeau, Vickers entered the Conservatives' caucus meeting and coolly explained "I put him down," referring to the attacker.


Photo via Twitter @evansolomoncbc Here Vickers is walking the halls of Parliament just after the shooting, again with the handgun in the right hand.

It's no disrespect to note that quotes ascribed to figures in the immediate aftermath of events like this are sometimes slightly more cinematic than they were actually uttered in the moment. But however he announced what had happened to the huddled MPs, there's little gainsaying this composed, rather bravura performance, that likely saved some and perhaps many lives.

It is little surprise that he's being toasted as a hero tonight in Canada.

Vickers served in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for 29 years. He was appointed Sergean-at-Arms in 2006.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/i-put-him-down

Yes, that is why I said "a lot of terrorists..."

That is why they are so easily recruited. jmo

Edited to add: I highly doubt this man was organizing a large terrorist plot or anything similar. It seems as if these days we ascribe the term "terrorist" to anyone who has any inkling of interest in or connection to Islam/the Middle East, unless of course they are white and/or rednecks. Then they are "patriots who are exercising their 2nd amendment rights" (or "stand your ground") or, a police officer or, at the very worse, a mentally disturbed individual. Sandy Hood/Adam Lanza comes to mind.

Being martyrs is what appeals to them, IMO.
Not because of an overwhelming religious zeal but because they're disturbed. I'm not referring to ISIS, now.

most suicide terrorists are fighting for lost territory, or what they perceive as lost territory. that is according to Pape, who has written the only decent book on the subject.

Heartfelt and very sad statement from the parents of the shooter. How horrible for them too:

The following is the full text of a statement issued to The Associated Press by the parents of Michael Zehaf Bibeau, the man authorities say killed a soldier at the National War Memorial, then stormed Parliament before being shot dead. The statement was in response to an AP email that asked about reports that their son was mentally unstable or otherwise vulnerable.

“Hi, I am writing this note on behalf of my husband and myself. No words can express the sadness we are feeling at this time. We are so sad that a man lost his life. He has lost everything and he leaves behind a family that must feel nothing but pain and sorrow. We send our deepest condolences to them although words seem pretty useless. We are both crying for them. We also wish to apologize for all the pain, fright and chaos he created. We have no explanation to offer. I am mad at our son, I don’t understand and part of me wants to hate him at this time. You write that our son was vulnerable, we don’t know, we (he) was lost and did not fit in. I his mother spoke with him last week over lunch, I had not seen him for over five years before that. So I have very little insight to offer. We don’t wish to be part of any media circus, we don’t think it will add anything to the conversation. Please respect our privacy although many may not feel we deserve any … Once again we are so sorry. Susan Bibeau and Bulgasem Zehaf”

http://globalnews.ca/news/1630948/mothe ... -shooting/

Very sad indeed ~

Sooz

Im not referring to a suicide terrorist but to a deranged, Canadian individual who identified with those who claim to be victims and saw himself as some sort of martyr to some nebulous cause inside his head.

not really seeing the difference, oskar. anyone who is storming parliament expects to die. that is a suicide mission.

but whatever. think what you like.

I try to make distinctions because I think that dealing with causes rather than effects is far more productive.

i resent the implication that you think i am not interested in causes, but i can't really do anything about what you and others think, other than tell you you are wrong. the argument i am making is a "root causes" argument. i see this as an act of suicide terrorism, and i think it resembles most other acts of suicide terrorism, in many respects.

Mental health problems aren't "terrorism". They're an illness.

Agreed ~ but citing "mental health problems" has morphed into becoming the go-to excuse/defense du jour ~

Sooz

I didn't say they weren't criminals. They were, but they weren't terrorists.

I'm thinking that depends on the definition of "terrorist" being used ~ some cases likely fit all the definitions ~ all I'm saying is that each case is different and should be weighed on its own merits ~

Sooz