What a strange day in Ottawa

Today Wednesday 22 October 2014 is certainly a very unusual day for us all in Ottawa and in the country. Who knew that the incident of yesterday in a parking lot of a mall in Quebec where a crazed so called convert to Islam who drove his car into two soldiers, killing one would repeat itself today with even more violent consequences.

At around 10am at the Canadian National War Memorial in Ottawa an unmarked car with no licence plate stops and a man jumps out running towards the Memorial and opens fire on the Honour Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, killing Cpl Nathan Cirillo, 24 yrs old. of the Highland Regiment.

National War Memorial, Ottawa

The gunman then ran across Wellington Street unto Parliament Hill, he entered the Central block at the main entrance under the Peace Tower, which is only used for ceremonials. That is where he started to shoot up at the guards and from the video tape he ran down the Hall of Honour towards the Library of Parliament. Luckily for us all, he ran pass the two main committee rooms where the political caucuses were meeting, this being Wednesday which by tradition all Members of Parliament and the Prime Minister meet to talk about Parliamentary business. Had the gunman known more about the inside of the building, it could have had far more dire consequences. It was the Sergeant at Arms of the House of Commons who is responsible for security and order in Parliament who caught up with the gunman in this mad run through the corridors and shot him dead. You can clearly hear on the video the gun shots inside Parliament, many, some say up to 50 shots fired, I do not doubt it. One never thinks if you see the Sergeant at Arms walking down the corridor every day Parliament sits carrying the golden Mace which is the symbol of the Authority of Parliament in his formal uniform and bicorne hat that his role is anything but Ceremonial but Kevin Vickers today proved otherwise and is hailed as a hero for saving Parliament.

Sergeant at Arms carrying the Parliament Mace followed by the Speaker.

I am personally incensed at anyone thinking they can use violence against bystanders to make a statement what ever that might be. But in this case to attack our National War Memorial and kill a soldier guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and then run to Parliament and do the same is a
direct attack on Canadians. To my way of thinking this is the same as running into my house and trying to kill me and my family. The gunman has been named as Michael Joseph Abdul Zehaf-Bibeau, 32 yrs old, it is known that his step-father was a Libyan Immigrant, his mother a senior government official, the parents had lost track of him 5 years ago. We will no doubt find out more about this idiot, who is also a drug addict and a convicted felon in the days to come.

This day has disturbed many of us living in Ottawa, our security has been shaken badly and it has offended our values and the image we have of our society as peaceful and law abiding.

Parliament of Canada

Update: The RCMP says that the gunman had no links to any Jihadist groups, he was mentally deranged, friends and family says he had a difficult childhood, a string of criminal convictions, petty theft, etc, he had no fixed address and was wandering around Canada for the last 2 years. He had tried to convert to Islam but had failed at this and was told to leave the Mosque because he was too disruptive, the Imam said that he had stolen items from the Mosque and disturbed many people with his incoherent rants.