Shooter at large in Ottawa

[The Supreme Canuck]

Soldier guarding Tomb of the Unknown Soldier shot at National War Memorial. Shooter enters Centre Bloc of Parliament. Shooter killed by Sergeant at Arms. Parliament on lockdown, downtown Ottawa evacuated. Multiple shooters still believed to be at large. Reports of shooters with rifles on roofs of Parliament and nearby buildings.

Link

Sorry for crap grammar - on my iPad.

[Cyborg Girl]

What the fuck? Why would they even do that?

Please stay safe, and I hope the bastards get caught.

(BTW what's with the anti-Harper comments on the CBC article? I feel like I'm missing some serious context here.)

[The Supreme Canuck]

The current speculation is that this is a terrorist attack - a response to Canadian involvement in the anti-ISIS air campaign. There have been threats made against Canada, in particular Canadian Forces members. Monday, in Quebec, two soldiers were struck by a car driven by a man who was on a terror/radicalization watch list. One of the soldiers was killed; the driver was also killed by police.

Sadly, I'd say that terrorism is credible in this case.

Edit: Also, reports are that these shooters are using long guns. Prime Minister Harper loosened restrictions on long gun ownership and registration. People might be thinking that was a stupid thing to do.

[Cyborg Girl]

Damn... This may not be the time to talk of such things, but I sure hope your government's long-term response is saner than my government's.

Edit: re the long guns, I kind of figured. It still smacks a bit of opportunistic political sniping to my eyes, though.

[The Supreme Canuck]

Unlikely. PM Harper has a habit of mocking Liberal leader Trudeau for wanting to look to "root causes" of terrorism (finding out why people do these things and preventing it). PM Harper prefers a law enforcement approach. That is, an after-the-fact approach.

Idiocy.

Edit: Maybe it seems opportunistic to you, but there are going to be serious questions asked about it in the next few days. If lax long gun rules allowed these men to arm themselves, the laws need to change. And those responsible for breaking those rules are going to be in trouble.

[Sigma_Orionis]

Whatever the outcome of those debates, hope they at least catch him.

[The Supreme Canuck]

Well, one of the guys was shot dead in the Hall of Honour in the Centre Bloc. So there's that, at least.

Edit; CBC now reporting that there was speculation of a raised terror threat in Canada... that the government denied. Then there have been two attacks on CF members and Parliament, which was what was allegedly being threatened. That's troubling.

[Cyborg Girl]

Unlikely. PM Harper has a habit of mocking Liberal leader Trudeau for wanting to look to "root causes" of terrorism (finding out why people do these things and preventing it). PM Harper prefers a law enforcement approach. That is, an after-the-fact approach.

Idiocy.

Ah, the Hollywood approach. Tackling social causes might work better, but shooting people is more thrilling.

Edit: Maybe it seems opportunistic to you, but there are going to be serious questions asked about it in the next few days. If lax long gun rules allowed these men to arm themselves, the laws need to change. And those responsible for breaking those rules are going to be in trouble.

Agreed. It's possible I'm a bit biased here; the US at least has this thing where you're not supposed to criticize the people in charge during an emergency, which may or may not actually make sense given the situation. Chances are a bit of that has rubbed off on me.

[The Supreme Canuck]

Yeah, that's crap. Politicians like to try to say that to cover their arses, but the media at least doesn't listen. Good on them.

[The Supreme Canuck]

CNN talking to American "security expert" asking how this guy got into Parliament, comparing it to someone getting into the White House. This man is an idiot; Parliament is publicly accessible. The grounds are open to all. It has two big door right on the front. He went in, and was killed in the hall on the other side of the doors.

Why CNN is talking to an American expert who is unfamiliar with the situation here rather than a Canadian expert, I don't understand.

Edit: Second shooting confirmed in a nearby downtown shopping mall. Seems to confirm there was at least a second shooter.

[Cyborg Girl]

Here the media listens a bit more if the politicians in question are Republicans, at least from what I've seen...

Edit:

Why CNN is talking to an American expert who is unfamiliar with the situation here rather than a Canadian expert, I don't understand.

Pro-USA bias. They want someone who will make American security look better.

[The Supreme Canuck]

There's an irony, here. Yesterday the Commons passed a resolution to grant honorary citizenship to Malala Yousoufzai. She's apparently in Toronto today for the PM to grant her the honour. If this is Islamic terrorism, that's... well.

[The Supreme Canuck]

Three shootings, I should have said - one at the War Memorial, one inside Parliament, and one at the shopping centre.

Edit: Thought - the mall is attached through a transit stop to National Defence Headquarters. Concerning.

Edit 2: CBC reporting no statements yet made by officials. They seem to think that this indicates the situation is ongoing and not yet controlled.

[Cyborg Girl]

Yech. I hope Yousufzai is safe too.

Edit; CBC now reporting that there was speculation of a raised terror threat in Canada... that the government denied. Then there have been two attacks on CF members and Parliament, which was what was allegedly being threatened. That's troubling.

They didn't make a big deal of it to scare the public, so there's still some hope I guess.

Edit: the shopping center? What, the gunmen are targeting random people now too? Christ.

[The Supreme Canuck]

As I said, it's attached to NDHQ - Canadian military headquarters. If you were downtown and wanted to get there, you'd walk through the mall.

Edit: Police perimeter expanding. Special forces downtown.

Edit 2: Statement from the PMO. Not much said, but, to the PM's credit, no mention of terrorism, since it isn't yet confirmed. In fact, the only place that has even said the word "terrorism" is CNN.

[The Supreme Canuck]

CBC reporting PM cancelled Yousoufzai ceremony. Shame - I wish he went through with it. That would be a tremendous fuck you if this turns out to be Islamic terrorism.

Edit: CBC showing photos of MPs in caucus room with door barricaded with chairs. Surreal.

Edit 2: So far, hospital confirms they have two victims in non-life-threatening condition. NORAD on heightened alert.

[The Supreme Canuck]

Condition of soldier not known. It... doesn't look good. He's a reservist from Hamilton. This may sound bad, but it's a bit of a relief to me - I went to high school with people in Ottawa reserve units. At least I know it wasn't them.

Is that selfish? Maybe.

Edit: Canadian Forces bases on alert, lockdown. MP constituency offices closed down. This is looking like it was targeted at members of the military and government.

Edit 2: RCMP briefing in 30, White House briefing in 15. US embassy in lockdown. Canadian embassy in Washington in lockdown.

[Cyborg Girl]

You're human; you think first of who you know. As long as you don't use it to rationalize screwing over people you don't now, you're pretty okay, IMO.

Edit: boy howdy, this is starting to sound like our response to the Marathon bombing.

Edit 2: N/M I misread that. Not as extensive a lockdown as I thought at first. Do try to stay out of trouble...

[Swift]

Glad you are OK. Wishing the best to you and Parrothead.

[The Supreme Canuck]

The soldier is dead.

Edit: Provincial assemblies are on lockdown in Ontario and Quebec. Montreal city hall is on lockdown. CF members told to not wear uniforms in public.

Edit 2: I think I'm hearing F-18s overhead.

Edit 3: Brief White House statement of support, press corps doesn't care.

Edit 4: Ottawa police currently seeking multiple suspects.

Edit 5: Police are clearing all of downtown, room by room.

[The Supreme Canuck]

American media is being hyperbolic, calling this "Canada's 9/11."

Idiots.

[The Supreme Canuck]

Ottawa police saying reports of shooting at shopping centre are false.

Edit: CBC reporting, in light of this, that there may only have been one shooter. RCMP briefing soon.

[Cyborg Girl]

American commercial media can always be trusted to be hyperbolic; it's about the only thing they can be trusted on. Though I have to admit that's some pretty bad taste there.

Re searching downtown room by room, umm, how big an area are we talking about here?

[The Supreme Canuck]

American commercial media can always be trusted to be hyperbolic; it's about the only thing they can be trusted on. Though I have to admit that's some pretty bad taste there.

Re searching downtown room by room, umm, how big an area are we talking about here?

A rather large downtown core. Tens of thousands of bureaucrats work there. Ottawa proper has a population of about a million.

[Cyborg Girl]

Damn. And I missed that part about downtown being evacuated.

I hope the shooters don't get away clean, or for that matter kill anyone else in the process of being captured.