"Lone Gunman" at Canada's War Memorial & Parliament Hill

The day after...Halifax's The Chronicle Herald image by cartoonist Bruce MacKinnon is being called the "perfect tribute."

Breaking News on 10/22/14:

At least one person was shot this morning at a war memorial near Canada's Parliament in Ottawa.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that a soldier was shot. Others have seen a body inside Parliament.

The active shooters ran towards Parliament Hill, got into the main entrance to the Canadian Parliament, fired dozens of shoots, and then moved through the hallway. Parliament went on lockdown, officials reported.

Various accounts discussed different parts of a confusing whole. The Red Dirt Report mentioned that there was a sighting of a "man with long black hair, his face covered by a white scarf with decals on it and wearing a black jacket."

A member of Parliament, Bob Zimmer tweeted that the "lone gunman is deceased."

The suspect has reportedly been identified as Canadian-born Michael Zehaf-Bibeau, was was killed in a Center Block shootout.

(But there are other early reports there may be other shooters - two or three. And that they may be on the Parliament's roof. All seem to be incorrect.)

The suspect:

Michael Abdul Zehaf-Bibeau has been identified as the shooting suspect at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada on Wednesday. Zehaf-Bibeau is a Canadian native born in 1982.

"Zehaf" is Algerian, so some are speculating he is Algerian. Bibeau (Bibaud, Bibaut) is a French nickname for a heavy drinker, from a derivative of Latin bibere, "to drink."

Bibeau was shot dead by the Canadian Parliament’s Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers. He was killed inside the Canadian Parliament’s Center Block building. 


The victim:

The soldier who died is said to have been a member of The Argylls of Canada - 91st Canadian Highlanders.

In a photo from this week, here is Cpl Cirillo (left), and Cpl Stevenson on Guard at The National War Memorial in Ottawa. Both are members of The Argylls of Canada.

The soldier has been identified as Cpl. Nathan Cirillo, a reservist based out of Hamilton, Ontario.

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The timing:

The Canadian contribution to the bombing of ISIS or IS have been codenamed Operation Impact by the Canadian Department of National Defence. Canadian fighter jets left for the Middle East to join in airstrikes on October 21, 2014.

October 22 is the anniversary from 1964, when a Canadian Multi-Party Parliamentary Committee selected the design which becomes the new official flag of Canada. (h/t RS)

The three-lobed Canadian maple leaf is often compared to a trident. (h/t RPJ)

Links abound, per Keys to Cosmic Doorways:

I think this is per Mark Gray.

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Update/Noon Eastern:

There were two soldiers standing guard at the war memorial in Ottawa near Parliament, and a gunman shot one of them, a witness told CNN on Wednesday. Peter Henderson, a journalist, said other soldiers doing drills nearby ran to help the fallen soldier. Henderson said he knew the person shot was a soldier because of the ceremonial uniform the soldier was wearing.

There were "several shooting incidents in downtown Ottawa" on Wednesday morning, police said on Twitter. "Incidents occurred at National War Memorial, near the Rideau Centre and Parliament Hill." All Ottawa police buildings remain on lockdown and are closed to the public, police also said on Twitter.

There were "numerous gunmen" Wednesday morning at the Canada War Memorial shooting, said Marc Soucy of the Ottawa Police Service. Authorities are working to figure out if there were two or three gunmen, he said. Only one person was shot, Soucy said. Source.

Update/2:00 pm Eastern:

There are reports that one soldier was killed at the War Memorial. One gunman was also killed, apparently, inside Parliament.

Officials are saying that the reports of an incident near the Rideau Center (mall) has nothing to do with the shootings at the War Memorial and Parliament.

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Today's events follows an incident on Monday, October 20, 2014, when 25-year-old Martin Couture-Rouleau ran over two soldiers. Couture-Rouleau was briefly detained at a Canadian airport in July 2013 when he sought to fly to Turkey. Police did not have enough evidence to charge him with seeking to join a terrorist group abroad and released him.

Couture-Rouleau was fatally shot by police after he struck the two soldiers with his car in a Quebec supermarket parking lot (shown above) -- a scenario which had been depicted only last month in IS propaganda. Police said Rouleau raced through a mall parking lot in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu about 11:30 a.m. Monday. He called 911 as this unfolded and told the operator that he was acting in the name of Allah.

The parking lot of the Tim Horton's where the solider was run down.

Late on Tuesday, Canada raised its national "terrorism" alert, officials said, after a soldier run over by a suspected jihadist died in hospital. That soldier's name is Patrice Vincent.

The Canada case appears to be a copycat of the murder of British soldier Lee Rigby in London in May 2013. Rigby was run over by two Muslim converts before being stabbed and hacked to death.

The statues at the top of the memorial symbolizes Peace and Liberty.

The National War Memorial is a cenotaph (surmounted by a bronze sculpture entitled "The Response") in stands in Confederation Square, Ottawa. A cenotaph is an "empty tomb" or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. The word derives from the Greek: κενοτάφιον = kenotaphion (kenos, one meaning being "empty," and taphos, "tomb").

Trident Stolen From Poseidon's Fortress

According to WJON, the Stearns County Sheriff’s Office is reporting that a theft occurred at the “Poseidon Fortress” house in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

Sheriff John Sanner says deputies were called to 32208 County Road 1 in Le Sauk Township on Thursday, October 16, 2014, for a theft complaint.

[The Sacs or Sauks are a group of Native Americans of the Eastern Woodlands culture group. Due to the yellow-clay soils found around Saginaw Bay, their autonym was Oθaakiiwaki (often interpreted to mean "yellow-earth"). The Ojibwe and Ottawa name for the tribe (exonym) was Ozaagii, meaning "those at the outlet." From the sound of that, the French derived Sac and the English Sauk. The use of "le," for "the" is thus used in American location names, as per "Le Sauk."]

Sanner says the caretaker at the residence reported that somebody stole (at a time unknown) the trident from the bronze Poseidon statue in front of the house. Source.

The Poseidon Fortress/House is the site of a spoof of an actual real estate video of the home for sale. See below.

Kansas Deaths Are Dark Mirrors

Still missing, Lana, 18 months old, in the "shades of gray" state of Kansas.

News is coming out of Olathe and Ottawa, Kansas, of the grisly discovery of the bodies of three adults and a missing, presumed dead child of one of the deceased. It appears to be a ghastly reflection - a dark one - of the rescue in Cleveland.

The names in Cleveland - Knight, Berry, and DeJesus - are well-known now.

From Kansas, we may be hearing more about Bailey, Stout, and White soon.

Steven E. White, one of the deceased.

The bodies of Kaylie Kathleen Bailey, 21, Andrew Adam Stout, 30, and Steven Eugene White, 31, were discovered at a farmhouse in Ottawa earlier this week.

(L-R) Andrew Stout, Kaylie Bailey, Steven White

Friends of a man who lives at the home in the 3100 block of Georgia Road called deputies Sunday after smelling a foul odor. They also had been unable to contact their friend recently. But deputies did not find any bodies.

The friends returned Monday and found what they believed to be a woman’s body in a garage. Deputies then returned to the home, got a search warrant and found the men’s bodies. All of the victims were adults.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/05/07/2792530/2-bodies-found-on-farm-in-east.html#storylink=cpy

The first body was found in the farm's garage Monday, May 6, 2013, by friends of Stout's, who investigated the property after not hearing from Stout for several days. They called police after finding Bailey's body in the garage under a tarp. Authorities then launched a full search and found the other two bodies. Bailey's daughter, Lana, was nowhere to be found.

Franklin County Sheriff Jeffrey Richards said at a news conference that the 18-month-old daughter of one of the victims is "presumed dead" although her body has not been found. A 27-year-old man has been arrested in the deaths of these three people, law enforcement officials said Thursday.

Lana Leigh Bailey and Kaylie Bailey.

Earlier in the week, the Wichita Eagle shared the concerns of relatives:

Rachel Helms-Bailey, grandmother of the missing child, said her son, Shawn Bailey, and Kaylie married in 2009 and lived with her for years in Basehor and later Melvern. She said Kaylie never missed a day of work [at an American Eagle Outfitters warehouse], so it’s extremely unusual that Kaylie would miss a week of work without calling.
Kaylie and her baby moved back with Kaylie’s mother in Olathe about six months ago, Helms-Bailey said. Shawn Bailey was sent to prison for theft and forgery convictions in early March, and the couple divorced at the end of March, she said.
Kaylie last was seen about noon Wednesday leaving her mother’s home to visit Andrew Stout, who lives at the Georgia Road home. They worked together as security officers. Stout had at least one roommate who recently had been released from prison, Helms-Bailey said.
Kaylie said she would be back in two hours but never returned, Helms-Bailey said. She missed her overnight shift that night and every shift since. Stout has also not returned to work, Helms-Bailey said.

Police had earlier been looking for two men in connection with the murders: Kyle Flack, 27, and Cyle Mathew Bailey, 22. They are believed to be driving a Toyota Corolla.

The suspect was located in Emporia, about 50 miles southwest of Ottawa, Sheriff Richards said. That suspect is being held at the Franklin County jail on a first-degree murder charge but has yet to be formally charged, according to Richards and Franklin County Attorney Stephen Hunting.

Shawn was arrested with relative Cyle Bailey, 23, who had been imprisoned with Shawn for their role in a 2008 burglary in Franklin County. Cyle Bailey had also initially been sought by police as a “person of interest" in the Ottawa homicide. However, police canceled that request Tuesday after speaking with Cyle. Source.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2013/05/07/2792530/2-bodies-found-on-farm-in-east.html#storylink=c

Update: Prosecutors are expected to charge Kyle T. Flack, 27, of Ottawa with multiple counts of first-degree murder in the case, Richards said. (Flack is pictured below in recent booking photographs.)

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/09/4226917/missing-18-month-old-ottawa-girl.html#storylink=cpy

Update: Prosecutors are expected to charge Kyle Flack, 27, of Ottawa with multiple counts of first-degree murder in the case, Richards said.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/09/4226917/missing-18-month-old-ottawa-girl.html#storylink=cpy

The father of the child, Shawn Bailey, is apparently not a suspect. He has been in jail in Missouri since January on burglary charges. It is not known if Cyle Bailey is a relative.

 OzOzOz

Olathe, Ottawa, Emporia. We are in Kansas. Oz incarnate. The state has a Wizard of Oz Museum, a Yellow Brick Road, a Munchkin Mall, and other Oz-linked roadside attractions. Olathe, where Kaylie Bailey lived, is literally "beautiful."

Olathe was founded by Dr. John T. Barton in the spring of 1857. He rode to the center of Johnson County, Kansas, and staked two quarter sections of land as the town site. He later described his ride to friends: "...the prairie was covered with verbena and other wild flowers. I kept thinking the land was beautiful and that I should name the town Beautiful." Purportedly, Barton asked a Shawnee interpreter how to say "Beautiful" in his native language. The interpreter responded, "Olathe." Source.

Other highlights summarized from Wikipedia:

This area of Kansas was involved in the pre-Civil War bloody battles between pro- and anti-slavery factions. Confederate guerrillas from Missouri led by William Quantrill surprised the residents and raided the city on September 7, 1862, killing a half dozen men, robbing numerous businesses and private homes, and destroying most of the city. Quantrill launched the raid because the people of Olathe were known for their abolitionism.

Ottawa is a city situated along the Marais des Cygnes River (which use to flood often) in the central part of Franklin County, Kansas. Beginning in 1943, Ottawa served as a branch camp for Nazi prisoners of war.

Emporia, Kansas, located on upland prairie, was founded on February 20, 1857, drawing its name from ancient Carthaginian Africa. The 1987 CBS miniseries Murder Ordained was filmed in Emporia. The program was the dramatization of an actual event in Emporia involving the 1983 death of Sandra Bird. Her husband, Reverend Tom Bird, was convicted of first-degree murder in her death and served 20 years in prison. On Sunday, March 6, 1988, a heavily armed gunman walked into the Calvary Baptist Church during services and opened fire. The 29-year-old gunman, Cheunphon Ji, shot randomly, killing 1 person and injuring 4 others.

"No matter how dreary and gray our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful. There is no place like home." ~ Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.