Man threatens to detonate bomb on Ont. highway

[Mike Baker]

Man threatens to detonate bomb on Ont. highway

Man threatens to detonate bomb on Ont. highway
Updated Tue. Feb. 26 2008 8:06 AM ET

toronto.ctv.ca

Ontario's Highway 400 was closed for several hours Monday night after a man surrounded himself with propane tanks and threatened to blow himself up.

After hours of negotiation with the York Region Emergency Response Unit, the standoff came to an end without incident.

Police rushed to the scene north of Toronto at around 9:30 p.m. and quickly closed off a large section of the highway from Aurora Road to King Sideroad.

Traffic was backed up as far as major Mackenzie Drive. Some side roads were also shut down as a precaution.

Police say the man pulled over on the southbound lanes of the highway with a number of propane tanks in his car that were bound together with duct tape. He allegedly threatened to detonate the bomb when the next tanker truck passed by.

It was hours before the man surrendered to authorities. Police were able to reopen the highway by 2 a.m.

Good thing this turned out for the better.

 

[JJJ]

Good thing we have some pretty good police officers.  Do you know if it was the OPP or RCMP?

 

[blacktriangle]

York Regional Police...

probably some OPP involvement due to being on the highway.

 

[George Wallace]

Where is georgeharper?

This is a Terrorist Act.  Luckily the nutcase did not explode the bomb, but had he we would have another tragic act of terrorism right here on Canadian soil.

Of course, as the man did not detonate the bomb in the end, all the naysayers will deny that this was in any way, shape or form an act of terrorism.

How many lives were affected by the closure of these highways and roads?  How much was commerce affected?  This guy threatened to set off a large bomb.  It was a threat that had consequences on a great many lives in the Toronto area.

IEDs in Afghanistan are found and disarmed.  Does that make them any less an IED?  No.  This guy was a TERRORIST.

He no doubt will get off in the Canadian Court System, because a shyster will declare him mentally unfit to stand trial.  What about all the mentally challenged Suicide Bombers in foreign lands?  Should they all get off "Scot free" should they fail to detonate?

This guy should be locked up and the keys thrown away.

 

[Bigmac]

Was he a terrorist or just some nutjob looking for attention? A terrorist wouldn't have announced himself or waited for police , he would have just blown himself up at the opportune moment and then some terrorist oraganization would have claimed the evil deed as theirs. This was not the case. His motivations were not explained??  Still a potentially devastating outcome! Good work done by the police!

 

[Gimpy]

How many lives were affected by the closure of these highways and roads?  How much was commerce affected?  This guy threatened to set off a large bomb.  It was a threat that had consequences on a great many lives in the Toronto area.

I agree with most of what you say, but I need to take exception with these statements.

Very few lives were affected by the closure of the 400 I can tell you with a degree of certainty having been on the 400 hundreds of times late at night after driving home from work at Canada's Wonderland one summer. They said the highway was closed from 9:30 to 2am and at that time of night the 400 is not very busy compared to the other 400-series highways and there are several other ways around the 400 that would be well out of the way of a potential blast. I also think you're falling a bit into hyperbole with the statement "threat that had consequences on a great many lives in the Toronto area". The area of the highway they closed off is surrounded by fields, the closest residential area was King City and if they were in any danger they would have been evacuated. I can assure you that this event had very little effect on the city, not many things do. There was more news coverage of a scientology protest a couple weeks ago than this event.

This is the definition of a terrorist act though and he should be charged as such.

 

[George Wallace]

First off.....Bigmac.....How many Suicide Bombers are totally sane people?  They are all nut jobs in their fanatical religious beliefs.

Next.......Gimpy......Many lives were affected, even if you didn't realize it.  How many Transports were delayed in their deliveries of Produce and products to Toronto and area merchants and manufacturers?  How many people had their travels interrupted, delayed, detoured, etc. due to this character?  How many Police and Emergency Services personnel were involved in maintaining the safety of the Public?  What damage would have been caused to a major transportation artery had this guy blown up his bomb as Tanker truck passed?  What would have been the blast effects of all those Propane tanks and a tanker truck exploding in the Metropolitan area? 

Not everyone was sleeping soundly that night.

 

[Gimpy]

Next.......Gimpy......Many lives were affected, even if you didn't realize it.  How many Transports were delayed in their deliveries of Produce and products to Toronto and area merchants and manufacturers?  How many people had their travels interrupted, delayed, detoured, etc. due to this character?  How many Police and Emergency Services personnel were involved in maintaining the safety of the Public?  What damage would have been caused to a major transportation artery had this guy blown up his bomb as Tanker truck passed?  What would have been the blast effects of all those Propane tanks and a tanker truck exploding in the Metropolitan area? 

Not everyone was sleeping soundly that night.

Well all of that is irrelevant now that the situation has been controlled isn't it? So a few people didn't get home in time, at least they didn't die in an explosion and I'm sure they are grateful for that, but the effect on the city was completely minimal, CTV is the only major news network that even has the story currently. No matter what you might say, I have my feet on the ground in the city and I know there is very minimal effect if any at all. The markets haven't been affected (rather they've been going up), the 400 is back and open as usual, and one less nut-job is off the street. You're going to have to do a hell of a lot more than threaten to explode a couple of propane tanks 5km away from the city to cause even the slightest notice. The biggest thing on our minds right now is the little bit of snow we're getting, if terrorists truly wanted to hurt Toronto they would find some way to douse us in many feet of snow, we'd be crippled!

 

[George Wallace]

Perhaps.  Perhaps not.  Perhaps others are reading too little into it.  It is a fine line to walk.  Even your definitions will be interpreted differently by different people. 

 

[Trinity]

Terrorism: The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence
against people or property to coerce or intimidate governments or
societies, often to achieve political, religious, or ideological
objectives.

Would you say this really fit the defintion of terrorism as is commonly accepted and define? Not really. Methinks you are reading WAY to much into this.

Depends on what what his demands were
Maybe it was...

 

[George Wallace]

Piper

So you personally know this guy?  You can vouch for him, 100%, that he isn't a member of any Terrorist Cell, or has not been influenced as an "individual" by a Jahidist website to commit an act of Terror.  Next you will want to tell me that a "Madman" can not commit an act of Terror or atrocity, only a sane person could.  How many instances, throughout history, has a criminally insane person committed an act of Terror or an atrocity against humanity?  If you want to pretend that the world, in particular Canada, is a warm and fuzzy safe place, I won't stop you. 

The reason's for this guys actions haven't been proven or disproven yet.  He could be someone who just went "Postal".  He could be someone who has been externally influenced into committing this act.  Do you know for sure?  Do you have all the facts?

 

[MG34]

Nothing that a .308cal 175gr BTHP couldn't have solved which would have been the case if this guy was a serious threat,he had intent (or did he) but did he even have the means to carry out his threat? Seems like another whack job looking for suicide by cop.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Why doesn't everyone quit speculating until more info is released. Then you can point fingers and say "I told you so". Sheesh, you're ass bad as the MSM.

 

[Gimpy]

I'm sorry, who said this...

I could ask the same questions of you. Did you have all the facts when you stated this?

He was a 44 year old male, probably Caucasian, from Middle-of-Nowhere, Ontario. It's called profiling, he fits the description of a 'guy who went postal', not a one man terrorist sleeping cell. I'm not saying he is or isn't what I think he is, but you threw out a heckuva wild statement there and I felt that I should respond with some common sense speculation as opposed to a knee-jerk "media says bomb, must mean terrorist" reaction. I'll put a substancial amount of beer down as a bet that I'm right. 

Just give it up, while it may not be a terrorist act in the way we think about it today, it still follows the simplest definition of terrorist: a person who terrorizes or frightens others. I'm sure that some people were frighten by a loon on the highway with propane tanks threatening to blow up a tanker. Was Timothy McVeigh a middle age white male from middle-of-nowhere USA, yes. But was he a "guy who went postal"? No, of course not, he was a calculated terrorist who killed 168 people and he committed the actual act alone.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Whoopsie, I guess I was...




Right.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/02/26/bomb-threat.html

See second paragraph.

This kind of deal happens all the time, people wanting to kill themselves in a very public way. Or just wanting attention. The fact that he slowed down traffic on a major highway instead of calling it in from his home is why this got major coverage.

Either that or AQ is really hurting for Canadian terrorists...... :rofl:

Haven't seen that kind of a response since I picked up by daughter at nursery school. I think the orator was about four.

Try not to be so smug. It's unbecoming of a future officer.

 

[Bigmac]

Dang I missed all the good stuff! I totally agree with Piper about how so many people are quick to jump on the terrorist bandwagon. I too did not believe this was a terrorist act, just some guy with a problem looking for attention. 

It's not good enough for the media that our soldiers are being killed in Afghanistan, they want the big story of a terrorist act on Canadian soil! I do believe we have terrorist activity in this country but attacks on government officials or buildings would be more likely targets.  The media wants us to be scared, it sells papers and makes you watch the news.

As far as hwy 400 goes, anyone who drives on it fears for their life even without potential terrorists! 

 

[bllusc]

I am a Sgt with the Aurora OPP Detachment where this occurred. I did not attend the call as I came in for dayshift the next day. The man in question threatened to blow himself up and when the York Regional Police tactical squad broke his window with an Arwen round to get him, he got mad at them for doing so. Shows his intent, if he really wanted to kill himself, why get upset if his vehicle is damaged when its about to be blown to atoms.

He got his 20 seconds of fame and a date with a Judge.

Kudos to the York Regional Police, they were there in force before the OPP even got the call. The 400 Hwy is busier than ever and shutting it down costs millions of dollars to the provincial economy. The response by the police was top notch and the province was made safer by their actions.

B. Luscombe

 

[Old Ranger]

Howdy Neighbour,

I'll pass on the Kudos to my Brother. I'll see if there is any more information that can be released...without violating the terrorists individuals rights.

Ben

 

[Old Ranger]

So far, It was over 3 hour negotiation before action was stepped up.

More to follow if allowed.